None
by xooreoxo
Summary: Sasuke's a tad bit overprotective when it comes to Sakura. When she has her first solo mission, things go drastically wrong. How far will Sasuke go to protect her and fix all her problems?
1. Chapter 1

**New story I know…lol… but I had to write this one…it's was just..ugh! Like the best idea I've had so far!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Sasuke walked up the stairs to his apartment, trudging with pain. He had just come back from a solo A mission. Killing the guy he was supposed to kill was not hard, nope. It was trying to kill his stupid ninja body guards, each were on the level of ANBU. That wasn't above his level or anything…of course not, he's Sasuke Uchiha. It's just that they were so freaking annoying.

Sasuke flinched as his climbed up the last stair. He had lost a lot or blood during that battle, which was probably dripping all over the floor. But who gives a damn; he can always hire some kind of maid to clean it up.

As he reached his door, he felt a familiar chakra on the other side, and fought the urge to let out a smirk. He turned the knob, and found out that the door was not locked.

'_How many damn times am I going to tell her to lock the door?'_

Sasuke opened the door and walked in and saw the person he was looking for.

"Hey you're back, Sasuke-kun!"

"Aa."

Sakura walked up to him with her eyes filled with worry. "What happened?"

"Sound Anbu." Sakura formed her lips in an "o" shaped form and led him to his couch.

"Sit down, let me take a look at you're wounds." Sasuke did as he was told and sat down, inwardly flinching while doing so. Sakura put her hand over his biggest wound and her hands glowing green. Sasuke watched her carefully. Noticing how her forehead crinkled with creases while working. She was longer then it was when they were 12 and now that they were 17, she had let her hair grow out so it was half way down her back. She was wearing one of his shirts, which were way to big on her, and his shorts which were also to big for her. The one thing that caught Sasuke's eye though was her green eyes. It was her strength and her weakness. Her eyes were sharp and could catch any sudden movement, also notice genjutsus and chakra movements.

But they showed too much emotion, more that a ninja should have to survive. There were his first hints of her being sad, happy, angry or excited.

"All done!" Sakura stated patting his stomach, which was all perfectly healed and cleaned. You could barely tell that he was in danger of loosing most of his blood.

"Hn."

Sakura smiled and started to get up, "Now I got to go wash my hands!"

Sakura stood up to go to the sink, when she felt a hand around her elbow. Sakura turned around and looked at Sasuke questionably. Sasuke pulled her back down to the coach and kissed her.

Sakura melted as soon as his lips touched hers and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sasuke fought the urge to moan, as Sakura started pushing her self onto Sasuke. Soon the kiss turned into a hunger for lust, as Sasuke hands started roaming under Sakura's shirt and Sakura's hands moved down to his pants.

Sasuke bit down on Sakura's lip in shock, when Sakura's hand shot into his pants. Sakura smirked a bit herself at Sasuke's reaction, and let out a deep moan as Sasuke's right hand started massaging the area between Sakura's belly button and her underwear, while Sasuke's left hand reached over to her back reaching for the clasp of her bra-

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Sasuke immediately leaned back, stopping himself, while Sakura fell to the floor, since she was leaning on him. Sasuke walked over to his door and opened it and found Shizune there.

Sasuke stood there looking at her demanding an explanation. Shizune smiled back at him, with a nervous twitch.

"Um, I was just looking for Sakura Haruno; I could sense her chakra, so I could just-"

"You're looking for me?" Sakura piped up, suddenly appearing next to Sasuke, looking proper, in her own t-shirt and pants. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her.

'_How did she manage to change that quickly?'_

Shizune flashed Sakura a real smile, "Oh, Sakura Tsuande-sama would like to speak to you."

"Oh, ok!" Sakura walked past Sasuke and out the door. Sasuke was about to shut the doors when he heard Shizune ask Sakura, "Why were you at Sasuke-san's house anyway?"

Sasuke closed the door immediately afterwards, knowing that Sakura could handle the question, it's not the first time the two have almost been caught in a…well intimate position.

Sasuke sat back on his couch Sakura's scent still lingering there. Sasuke looked at this hand and noticed that they were slightly trembling.

'_I was so close…so close to touching her…'_ As much as Sasuke wanted him and Sakura to…you know have intercourse…he couldn't risk it.

They were in love…really in love. It's just that if Sasuke chooses to do it with her, someone might find out. Not that they were you know doing it, but that they were going out.

You see, Sasuke and Sakura had a secret relationship going on. Sasuke had proposed it of course because what if someone found out he was dating her, found out that she was his weakness and was the only person that can truly make him tremble. Then nothing would stop Orochimaru/Kabuto, Itachi or even his ex-teammates from hebi from killing her.

And that wasn't the only reason why he couldn't.

If he did manage to get to the next level with Sakura , there's a slight chance that his curse seal might activate…like last time…

…and this time he might not be able to control himself.

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**A/n- just a little intro into the story…! I am so pumped up for this story!! Ahh its gonna be like…AHH. Okay! Well please review**

**P.R.**


	2. Chapter 2

Wow look at all the pretty reviews! And it was only the first chapter!! Heheeh I feel so happy!

Disclamer: I do not own Naruto

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Chapter Two.

"Ohmigod, Sasuke! You scared the living crap out of me!" Sakura exclaimed her right hand hovering over her heart and her other hand grasping a kunai. Sasuke let out a small smirk, as he climbed into her room from her window.

"Expect the unexpected." He whispered into her ear as he lied in bed with her. Sakura sighed softly as she cuddled Sasuke; putting her hands around his abdomen and laying her head on his chest.

"Well, you hid your chakra pretty well that even **I,** Sakura Haruno, the almighty apprentice of 5th hokage could not sense it." Sakura muttered sleepily. Sasuke chuckled softly.

"The almighty, huh?" Sasuke let out another light chuckle as he ran his fingers through her soft pink hair. Sakura let out another sigh and drew little circles with her pointer finger on his awesomely awesome six-pack.

'_She's so quiet…'_ Sasuke thought furrowing his eyebrows. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

Sakura raised her head from his chest, and gave him a small smile, "Nothing's wrong."

"You're lying."

Sakura stopped drawing her imaginary circles and wrapped her arms around his body.

"If I tell you, you might get mad."

"Sakura, tell me."

"But, Sasuke-kun-"

"_Sakura_."

"Fine." Sakura got off Sasuke and sat on the edge of the bed, "Okay, so tomorrow I have a mission."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her, "A mission?"

"Solo." Sakura added in a whisper. She saw Sasuke's left eye twitch clearly even though it was dark in her room.

'_**Oh boy, not a good sign at all…when his eye twitches…that's the first sign that he's pissed.'**_

"H-"

"That's not all." Sakura said, cutting of Sasuke's trademark expression.

"…"

"Um, It's A ranked."

"…." Sakura looked at Sasuke nervously waiting for his reaction.

"Sakura."

"…?"

"You're not going." Sasuke stated, resolving the problem.

"What!?" Sakura yelled. Sasuke simply closed his eyes and laid back on her bed. Sakura groaned in frustration, "Don't you dare ignore me Sasuke Uchiha!" Sakura swiftly climbed on the bed getting on top of him. "What the hell do you mean 'you're not going?'"

"Exactly what it sounded like."

"Sasuke! Why do you have to be so damn overprotective! I am not a stupid little damsel in distress!"

"I never said that you were." Sasuke retorted staring blankly into Sakura piercing jade glare.

"Well it's no longer in you're hands, because I already accepted the mission." Sakura smirked proudly as she saw Sasuke's usually emotionless face, scrunch into anger.

But before she knew it, Sasuke used his amazing speed to get out from underneath her and pin her against the wall.

"Sakura, do you remember what happened last time you were on a solo-mission?" Sasuke spat angrily, putting his face inches away from hers.

"S-Sasuke-kun, I'm fine now, aren't I?" Sakura said in a hushed tone, trying to calm Sasuke down.

_Think positive. _Sakura's always telling him.

"Damn it, Sakura you almost _died._ They almost killed you. If I hadn't of-" Sakura placed her fingers on his mouth, stopping him from saying more.

"Sasuke-kun you really have to stop dwelling on the past. Trust me, I'll be fine. It's just a mission to the Hidden Village of the Mist. I'll be in and out, Kay?" Sakura said. Sasuke glare hardened and he let go of her and swiftly stepped away heading for the window. Sakura looked at him worriedly, "Sasuke-kun where are you going?"

"Hn."

And then he left.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Promise me you'll be careful!" Naruto said his face full of tears. Team Seven minus Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and Lee had gathered at Konoha's Gate. Sakura rolled her eyes playfully.

"No, I'm going to try and complete this mission in the most dangerous way there is, so that I'll never have to eat ramen again." Naruto's blue eyes got bigger and he hugged his teammate.

"Shuddup," he sniffed, letting go of her. Sakura smirked at him, and Naruto face changed from a depressed 'oh no my friend's leaving' to a mischievous one. "Did you learn to smirk like that from Sasuke?" Naruto whispered. Sakura smacked Naruto, so hard she was pretty damn sure that even the nine tailed fox felt it. Naruto was the only one, besides her and Sasuke of course, that knew about her relationship. Not that she nor Sasuke trusted him of course, no. He just happened to have walked in during one of their make-out sessions.

"Sakura try not to use up all your energy," Kakashi advised teasingly as he patted her one the head, like he used to do back in the day. Sakura smiled in response. She and Kakashi had a father-daughter relationship. Sakura at one point had even tried to convince Sasuke into letting Kakashi into the secret.

'_**No…he won't forgive me for what I've did…he would have me killed if he knew I was touching you again…'**_

Sakura sighed sadly at that memory. She remembered how pained Sasuke looked just to say those words.

"MY YOUTHFULL CHERRYBLOSSOM, HOW I WISH I COULD GO WITH YOU TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE EVIL DEMONTORS." Lee exclaimed. Sakura giggled, after all this time he still managed to keep that crush on her.

"Hey forehead! Try not to get yourself killed!" Ino said patting me on the shoulder. Shikamaru let out a long deep sigh.

"If you get yourself killed, then I'll have no one to play Shogi with and that would be too troublesome." Sakura let out a small laugh due to Shikamaru's favorite expression. Over the years Sasuke was gone, the two got pretty close, even went out for a while. Sakura looked up at Shikamaru (he was at least two inches taller than her), and saw his famous lazy smile. A year ago Sakura would have died and gone to heaven whenever she saw that smile, but now it just stirred up something in her stomach, and that was nothing to worry about. She gets that same feeling when she see's Gai.

"Hn." Sakura snapped herself out of that little somewhat flashback and turned to search for the owner's voice. Sakura saw Sasuke slightly glaring at Shikamaru (for he knew about _their_ past) and also slightly smirking at Sakura. Sakura slowly walked up to Sasuke and gave him a hug.

"I thought you weren't going to come," Sakura whispered loud enough for only him to hear.

Sasuke remained quiet and only when she was about to pull away from him, he mouthed,

"Be careful."

Sakura nodded and turned back to face the rest of the group. "Well, guys I'm guess I'm off!" Sakura waved good bye and disappeared leaving a cloud of smoke.

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Sasuke walked back to training grounds, when he felt a familiar chakra approach him from behind, Sasuke sighed, "Naruto…"

"How you feeling Sasuke?" Naruto asked slapping him hard on the back.

"I was feeling fine." Sasuke replied slowing his pace as his 'best friend' walked slowly next to him.

"Really? Wow, 'cause I remember the first time Hinata had her first A ranked solo mission without me or like dog breath, or bug boy, dude I was total wreck!"

"Hn." Sasuke replied not even caring what the blonde was saying.

"I mean I had sleepless nights…" Naruto continued, "…and I couldn't eat ramen for a WHOLE day. It was horrible."

"Sound horrible." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Oh, it was. I mean and I would be twice as paranoid in your situation because like the last time she was on a solo mission….well we know how that all turned out now don't we?" Naruto said, raising and eyebrow at Sasuke, Sasuke turned away not meeting his gaze. "I mean I don't know the full details…"

"Naruto," Sasuke said in a deadpan tone.

Naruto threw his hands up in his face defensively, "Well I'm always here if you want to talk about it, buddy to buddy, because remember I have demon inside of me too." Sasuke looked at Naruto, and almost smiled. Almost.

"Aa."

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Sorry for the late update…hehehe I was being lazy…that's my only excuse…OH you like the bit of shikasaku in it? lol im xooreoxo/pinkrazor biggest shikasaku fan ALIVE…so don't sue me! Please review!

P.R.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

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"_Please…Sasuke-kun, don't." Sakura cried tears streaming down her face constantly. Sasuke took another step towards her, laughing cruelly. He reached over to her, roughly touching her cheek, causing more tears to fall. _

"_It's a shame after all these years; you're still weak, still fragile. I could break you right here and now, if I pleased." He traced his hand down along her body till he reached her shoulder, with a quick snap of his wrist, she screamed._

Sasuke's eyes opened suddenly, his hands automatically reaching over to the spot next to him, only to find it empty. He sat up in a hurry looking to see if he was just being delusional, and then he remembered.

'_She's not here…'_

Sasuke laid back down breathing heavily, sweat drenching his entire body. He closed his eyes, tempting to block out the painful memories. But he couldn't, her screams, her tears, her blood, it was curved into his mind. Sasuke unconsciously rubbed his cursed mark, chuckling a bit.

Why is it that whenever he wanted to forget things he could remember them clear as day, but the things that he was supposed to remember, he clearly forgets. He rolled over to his side, looking at the empty spot on the bed, sighing, as he ran his fingers through the wrinkles on his unmade bed. He felt an odd emotion surge through him, crawling up his spine, and he almost chocked on his saliva when he realized what it was.

'…_I miss her.' _

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Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she healed what felt like the twelve thousandth person.

'_Jeez, you'd think that they purposefully try and get themselves injured.'_

She sighed, and grabbed a bottle of water some random nurse conveniently brought for her. She put all her stuff in a medical bag, and moved to the next person who needed her help. Honestly, she didn't know why Tsunade had said it was an A ranked mission, it wasn't much different from what she did from Konoha. She smiled as she thought of what Sasuke reaction would be when he realized that he got all worked up for nothing.

As she bandaged the patient's hand, who was spacing out in his little world, she thought of all the little scenarios that could happen when she got home.

'_Well first he would be at the gate with Team Seven, and probably just nod in my direction, not trying to give anything away, while Naruto would crush me to death in a huge hug, mocking Sasuke that he can't hug me in public like Naruto can. And Kakashi will just ruffle my hair as usual. Then Naruto would propose ramen with all of us, but Sasuke will most likely decline, saying he 'already ate'. And I will politely decline also, saying I was tired. And then me and Sasuke will sneak up to his apartment, or mine, but most likely his and then we'll…'_

'_**NOT DO ANYTHING!'**_

Sakura's face fell as she took in what her inner self just said. She knew she shouldn't pressure Sasuke into doing anything he didn't want to do, but it wasn't like he didn't want it either. He was trying to protect her, and she knew that. She just wished that he would let the past pass, and get on with his life. She's forgiving him, but it's like he couldn't forgive himself, and it frustrated her.

"Ow!"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her patient that was glaring at her. She apologized, and continued to do her job.

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"Sasuke!" Sasuke stopped his mindless stroll around Konoha, and waited for his blonde teammate to catch up with him.

"Naruto," he replied in recognition. Naruto grinned, stretching his fox marks on his face. "What?" Sasuke demanded.

"Dude, did you even look in the mirror this morning?" Naruto asked, laughing at Sasuke's appearance. Sasuke ignored him and looked at his reflection through a random stores window. Sasuke's hair was everywhere, which wasn't much different than usual, except that it was extremely frizzy. His eyes had purple like bruises around his eyes, from the lack of sleep he had gotten for the past two days. And he was pretty sure that he was wearing the same outfit from yesterday, and probably the same underwear.

Sasuke shrugged and kept walking.

"Wow, you have it bad," Naruto stated. Sasuke raised a single eyebrow at him, singling him to explain. Naruto sighed. "Well come on Sasuke it's kind of obvious you're worried about her."

"She can handle herself," Sasuke said.

"I know that, but teme, I don't think you know that." Sasuke looked at Naruto, watching him carefully. He inhaled deeply and averted his eyes somewhere else. "Sasuke, what happened that night? What happened when you were alone with her?" Naruto watched him shiver visibly, his eyes looking of to the distance.

"I couldn't control my self, she begged me to stop, she _**begged**_but I wouldn't listen, in the end, I almost killed her." Sasuke whispered. His usually emotionless face was filled with pain and regret, Naruto immediately regretted asking. He opened his mouth almost to say that he didn't want to hear the rest, when an ANBU, appeared in front of them.

"Tsunade-sama would like to speak with the two of you," the ANBU said disappearing quickly.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who returned the look.

"Let's go."

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Sakura cracked her knuckles, and walked towards the elevator back to help some more patients.

'_Breaks over,'_ Sakura thought sighing. She waited patiently as the elevator slowly made its way towards her floor, the door sliding open.

"Oh, Sakura-sama, we've been looking for you!" The person in the elevator screamed grabbing her wrist and dragging her into the elevator.

"Me?" She asked confusion all over her face.

"Our leader requests to see you," the ninja said seriously.

"Wait, he wants to see me? Why?"

"We just got a letter from the sound village requesting your presence, and if you don't respond, they'll attack."

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"I'm glad you guys came." Tsunade stated. Sasuke nodded as he and Naruto sat into their seats. "Boys, this won't be easy to say, and please listen before you react to anything."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Where's Kakashi?" he asked.

"I've already informed him of what I'm about to tell you, and him and the first round, have already left for the Mist Village."

'_Trust me, I'll be fine. It's just a mission to the Hidden Village of the Mist. I'll be in and out, Kay'_

Sasuke's back stiffened, and saw Naruto looking at the corner of his eyes.

"Isn't Sakura-chan supposed to be there?" Naruto asked, still not removing his eyes from Sasuke, who was in a complete daze.

"Hai, and that's what I was going to tell you guys about. From one of our ninja's that are positioned in the Mist, I have gathered some knew information." Tsunade stopped, watching how Naruto was glancing at Sasuke every now and then, and for the first time felt bad for the Uchiha. She knew his situations with Sakura, for she blurted it out during training one day, and made her promise not to tell anyone. Tsunade closed her eyes and continued, "It seems that the Sound Village has sent a letter to the Mist, demanding that they get to _meet_ with Sakura, or they'll attack the village."

"What! What would they want with Sakura-chan!?" Naruto shouted his voice clearly rising.

"I'm not sure Naruto, but I'm sending you two by yourselves to the Mist, to figure out what's going on. I want you two to get Sakura and talk her into NOT meeting with them, if they do attack, I already have Kakashi and the rest of them, already positioned to help defend the Mist, do you understand?"

Sasuke stood up and walked out the door silently, clenching his fists as he walked.

'Oi! Teme wait for me!" Naruto shouted, and ran out of the room.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples nervously,

'_What ever sound wants, I'm pretty sure the Uchiha knows.'_

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**A.N**

**Lmao. I know its been years since I updated this one, but…well..yeah. haha. REVIEW please!**

**xooreoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four…I think…yeah…it should be…

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"…_It seems that the Sound Village has sent a letter to the Mist, demanding that they get to __meet__ with Sakura, or they'll attack the village."_

Sasuke's jaw clenched as he grabbed random belongings and stuffed them in his sac.

_Damn it, Sakura. _Sasuke thought angrily. This is why he won't let her go on any missions; she's a magnet to trouble. Even as kids, who was the first one to get kidnapped, lost, or injured? How can you possibly get injured while just standing there screaming, _"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei!"_ It amazed him, it really did.

Sasuke's closed his backpack and heaved it over his shoulder as he headed for the door when something gleaming caught his eye. He walked over to the corner of the room and picked it up, chuckling a bit as he twisted it between his fingers.

_-_

_-_

_-_

"_Oh crap! Where'd I put it?" Sakura shouted as she rummaged through Sasuke's closet, tossing his clothes everywhere. Sasuke walked into his room, eyeing Sakura carefully. _

"_Sakura, what are you doing?"_

"_Eh?" Sakura squealed as she jumped. Sakura looked from Sasuke and the pile of Sasuke's clothes on his floor, and back to him. "Mm…nothing." _

_Sasuke picked up his clothes and tossed them on his bed, and then sat down next to the pile, cautiously. _

"_You're a bad liar," Sasuke stated. _

"_N-No, I wasn't looking for anything. I especially didn't loose anything important," Sakura said nervously. "Are you hungry? I can make you something!" Sakura said brushing herself off as she stood up. _

_Sasuke stood up even quicker and grabbed her wrist. "Sakura what are you hiding?" He asked, narrowing his eyes._

"_N-nothing. Don't you want breakfast?" Sakura stuttered._

_Sasuke loosened the grip he had on her wrist, and held her hands he lead her back to his bed. "Weren't you the one that said we shouldn't keep secrets?" Sasuke asked mockingly._

"_I wasn't talking about me! I was talking about your insane dark past," Sakura said crossing her arms. _

"_Che. Fine. If you don't want to tell me, then don't." Sasuke stated. Not taking his eyes off her. Sakura stared back at him, her eyes holding his gaze but then softened and her bottom lip quivered. Sasuke eyes widened in surprise. He was known for his glares, but he wasn't known to make girls cry from them. Okay. So maybe he was. But still. _

_Sasuke reached out to her, and wrapped himself around her. _

"_Sakura, what's wrong?" Sasuke asked._

"_S-Sasuke, I-I'm sorry! B-but, I lost it!" Sakura cried, as her body shook with more hysterics. Sasuke pulled himself away from her, looking at her cautiously, ignoring his now wet T-shirt._

"_Loose what?" _

_Sakura cries halted and she stared at him, her vision blurry. "N-nothing…" Sakura muttered as she stood up from the bed, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her shirt._

"_Sakura-"_

"_I got to go to the hospital," Sakura whispered, cutting him off. She quickly found a dry t-shirt of hers somewhere in the pile of Sasuke's clothes and tugged it on. "I'll see you later!" and with that she disappeared. _

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'_This is what she was crying about? The necklace I gave her for her?'_ Sasuke chuckled once more and put it in his pocket. He opened the door to his apartment to only find Naruto standing there impatiently.

"What's taking you so long Teme? We have to go get Sakura-chan before you oh-so wonderful 'master' gets her!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hn,"

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"Wait, so Sound, as in Orochimaru, wants to speak to me?" Sakura asked the leader of the Mist village. The leader nodded, his eyes forlorn.

"Now I'm not sure how to respond to this, I'm sure the Hokage has a say in the situation."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, biting her lower lip contemplating the situation. Basically Orochimaru gave her two choices. Either, she stays where she is and Orochimaru will start a full out unnecessary war where innocent people will die, or she simply meets with him.

_Shoot,_ Sakura played with her hems of shirt. She knew the choice SHE wanted do, but then there was the question what would Orochimaru do to her if she did go meet him.

_A new vessel?_

_**Psh. No, he wouldn't need you specifically for that, he could easily just sneak in while you're sleeping and just take a little knack out of you neck, simple as that. **_

_Oh thanks. _Sakura sighed once more and she noticed that the Mist leader was looking at her.

"Do you know what you are going to do?" he asked folding his hands in front of him. Sakura stared back at him, a look of determination burning through her eyes.

"Hai, in fact yes I do. You can send a message to Orochimaru that I have agr-"

"Haruno-san."

Sakura turned around and gasped, "Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke looked back at her with a knowing look which Sakura didn't understand, until she saw the leaders questioning gaze. "I-I mean, Uchiha-san!" She replied quickly recovering, waving her hands frantically trying to fix the suffix.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, trying so hard to fight the smirk of his face. He stepped forward and ignored the glare from Sakura.

"I assume the Hokage sent you?" The leader asked.

Sasuke nodded. "The Hokage has asked that Haruno Sakura will remain where she is, and will not meet with Orochimaru." Sakura's mouth fell open in shock.

'_What the hell! Who said THEY could decide for ME!"_

The leader eyes narrowed, "But what shall I do when Orochimaru attacks? Sit and watch as my people are slaughtered?"

"Hokage-sama has already sent Leaf Ninja here to protect the village, and as you know The Leaf Village has the strongest ninja, so we can assure you that your village will be safe." Sasuke concluded sneaking a look at Sakura, to his great frustration was glaring at him angrily as if**HE** were the bad guy.

"I see, well…if that is all you have to say then you may leave."

Sasuke nodded and grabbed Sakura by the arm, "Let's go Haruno-san."

"Let go of me!" Sakura growled as soon as they left the Leader's room. Sasuke immediately did what he was told and crossed his arms, his face annoyed. "Oh, don't give me that look!" Sakura shouted.

Sasuke sighed, "We shouldn't talk about this here." He nodded over to the passing mist ninja who was looking at them.

"Fine!" Sakura hissed, stomping off.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the room I was staying at where we _CAN_talk!" Sakura shouted angrily. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

'_She's so annoying…'_

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* * *

"Now, speak!" Sakura demanded, tapping her foot impatiently the minute she walked into her room.

Sasuke smirked at her, "I'm not a dog, Sakura"

Sakura frowned, "Sasuke! You make me so damn angry! Do you understand ho-" Sakura was cut of by Sasuke's lips crushing hers. Sakura instantly tried to pull away, but of course Sasuke was quicker and placed when hand on her lower back pushing her closer to him. Sasuke smirked as he felt her give in and wrap her hands around his neck as she crushed her body against his even more. Sasuke pushed her back till her back was against the wall. Sasuke put his hands under her shirt, and ran them up and down her back, as Sakura moaned responsively.

Sakura's eyes snapped open the moment his hands reached her bra strap, and broke the kiss immediately. "W-what are you doing?" Sakura managed out as Sasuke nuzzled her neck.

"What does it look like?" Sasuke whispered against her neck.

Sakura shoved him away softly, "I'm mad at you, remember?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Give it a break Sakura, it's your sensei's orders." Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"So if the Hokage hadn't of ordered you to come here and stop me you wouldn't have?" Sasuke shifted his weight to his other leg and looked away from her.

"…"

"See! This is what I'm talking about!" Sakura exclaimed. "Sasuke, you can't protect me from everything!"

"Sakura…" Sasuke groaned annoyed by where this 'talk' was going. It wasn't like he hasn't heard her say this a thousand of times.

"See this is the problem, you won't listen to me! I understand what happened last summer was sort of…an issue. But Sasuke, I've already forgiven you a thousand times, you don't have to make it up to me by jumping in front of every bullet that's shot at me." Sakura looked at him waiting for a response. Sasuke stared back wearily and sat down on the bed with his hands cradling his head.

"I know that," He whispered.

"Then why do you keep doing it?" Sakura asked softly, as she sat next to him. Sasuke looked up and stared straight in to her emerald eyes which were filled with concern. Sasuke closed his eyes momentarily.

"Do you know how hard it was for me those three days you were away?"

Sakura blinked. "Sasuke…"

"Do you know how hard it was to wake up for those three days and not see you lying next to me?"

"Sas-"

"Sakura it drove me insane, I hung out with Naruto on my own free will. Thinking it would distract me."

"…"

Sasuke looked at Sakura wearily. "I hear you when you're sleeping," he whispered.

"What?" Sakura asked slightly confused.

Sasuke sighed softly, "You have nightmares sometimes about that night, you call out in your sleep begging me to stop, yet you get up in the morning claiming that you've forgiving me, even though deep down you're terrified of me."

"Sasuke…" Sakura started, but her voice faded into the silence. She couldn't deny anything about what he said because it was true. She still thought about that eerie night and how Sasuke attacked her, almost killing her. That part didn't freak her out as much as he thought it did. It was his voice and the way he looked at her with his piercing crimson eyes. There was so much hatred in them and it was directed at _her._ Sakura looked at Sasuke carefully who was staring blankly into space. But he was wrong about one thing. She wasn't scared of him, Sasuke Uchiha, the man that she knows and loves.

She was scared of the thing inside him, the thing that Orochimaru_created_. Sakura shivered and she moved closer to him laying her head on his chest. Sasuke's body went rigged as her hair made contact with his skin.

"Sasuke…I love you."

Sasuke frowned, "But you shouldn't Sakura, you really shouldn't."

"I know…"

Sasuke's lips curved upwards as he kissed her softly on top of head. And lay down on the bed, laying her next to him. Sakura curled up next to him, hugging in around the waist.

"So…Where's Naruto?" Sakura asked, with a huge yawn attempting to soften the mood.

"What?"

"You can't honestly tell me that Tsunade sent you here by yourself, right?"

Sasuke chuckled, "Naruto said that he'd join Kakashi and the others sensing that if he came here with me it would make you feel even more 'overprotected'."

"Hmm, I guess Naruto knows me more then what I gave him credit for."

"Hn." Sasuke replied closing his eyes thinking he could get some well deserved rest since he barely slept for the past three days. Sakura listened softly as Sasuke's breathing became more even and softer.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered leaning up close to his face. Sasuke opened one eye slowly in response. She kissed him softly on his lips, "Did you really hang out with Naruto while I was gone?" Sasuke narrowed the one eye that was opened and rolled over to his side groaning.

"Go to sleep."

Sakura laughed lightly and snuggled close to him. "Goodnight."

"Hn."

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes as she shivered when a cold breeze blew across her face.

'_What on earth!'_ Sakura moaned as she got up from bed to close it, she could have sworn she didn't open it earlier. As she went back to the side of her bed, she looked at Sasuke who was no way affected by the cold of course.

"_**The cold? That man could sleep through an entire war, and not even budge one inch." **_

Sakura smiled at the thought as she got up close to brush a piece of his hair out of his face, but then suddenly a hand clasped over her mouth and another hand jabbed her with two fingers in her side, which paralyzed her as she fell back into the capturer's arms.

"Well hello Sakura," said the voice.

Sakura's eyes widened with recognition as the capturer's glasses glowed with the moonlight.

"Kabuto," Sakura croaked, as the paralyses took effect of her voice.

"I see you remember me, it's a shame though you didn't just come and meet with Orochimaru-sama like he asked, it would of made things a lot simpler." Kabuto said chuckling.

"Shut-up, Sakura…" Sasuke mumbled covering the blanket with his face. Kabuto remained silent and still, expecting the Uchiha to jump up at any moment…but he didn't. Sakura's mouth fell opened.

'_**You've got to be kidding me!'**_

Kabuto laughed. "He's still the deep sleeper he was back at the layer I see. Too bad, though isn't?"

Sakura glared, her voice completely gone and her body completely numb.

Kabuto laughed once more which earned one more stir from Sasuke, and Kabuto leapt into the night.

* * *

"Yo! Teme! Wake-up!"

Sasuke groaned as the sunlight hit his shut eye lids. He opened his eyes hoping to see Sakura's smiling shining face…

"Morning, Teme!" Naruto beamed.

"Damn it…Naruto what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked sitting up slowly.

"Oh I was looking for Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, "So where is she?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow, and looked beside him to see the spot next to him empty.

"She's probably in the bathroom," Sasuke mumbled attempting to go back to sleep. Naruto shook his shoulders awake.

"I already checked she's not there." Sasuke opened one eye and stared straight into Naruto's concerned face.

"She's probably in tow-"

"Sasuke I can't sense her chakra anywhere," Naruto said softly. Sasuke sat up concentrating to locate her chakra…but he couldn't sense it.

"That can't be right," Sasuke stated. "She wouldn't have just left." Sasuke closed his eyes briefly.

_Calm down Uchiha…She's probably masked her chakra, just to give you a little scare. _

Sasuke reopened his eyes, when a soft breeze tickled over his nose. He looked over to the window, eyeing it carefully.

"Naruto, did you open the window?" Sasuke asked, not taking his eye of the window. Naruto snapped out of his little gaze he was in and looked up him curiously.

"Why would I-"

"Just answer the question Naruto." Sasuke snapped glaring at him, his eyes burning with fury. Naruto took a step back.

"N-no teme, no I didn't. But remind me to never open a window without your permission if-"

Sasuke ignored him and walked up to the window leaning over it, inspecting every single inch of it. He ran his fingers against the window frame and stopped when his fingers caught something between them that wasn't dust, or dead bugs.

He held his fingers up and his eyes narrowed when he noticed that a single piece of silver hair was hanging from them…

* * *

DADADA! Done! Jeez you insane sasusaku fans… now please STOP with the insane messages…you guys are scarier then the youtube sasusaku fans.

Lmfao. No no I love you guys!!

Haha

REVIEW!

-xooreoxo


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five.

* * *

_**You have to be fucking kidding me.** _

"Sasuke how can you loose her?..."

'_Someone…_

"…She was lying next to you!..."

_has…_

"…Next to you, Sasuke, _next_ to you!..."

_To be…_

"I swear, you have to be so damn deaf not to hear someone sneak into your room and steal their girlfriend…"

_Fucking…_

"…I mean if someone took Hinata, I would have totally nine-tail foxed their asses."

…_**Joking. ** _

Sasuke ignored Naruto as he ranted on and on about how stupid he was for loosing Sakura. Sasuke jaws clenched angrily. And even though he would never, ever admit it.

Naruto was right.

Sasuke played with the single white hair between his fingers. There were only three people he knew that had any connection with Sakura what so ever, and also had silver like hair.

Kakashi.

Jiraiya

Kabuto.

He could easily rule out Kakashi, knowing that know matter how much Kakashi may care for Sakura, as a daughter and all, he would never sneak into the night and snatch Sakura up, without beating Sasuke up in the process.

'_Let it be clear Sasuke, I could care less about you and what you do to me. Or what you do to Naruto. But, if you touch Sakura in anyway…I will kill you.' _

Those words rang clear as day in Sasuke's mind. He mentally shook his head; _this is not the time to think about that._

Sasuke's knuckles turned pale white, at the thought of _Jiraiya_ ever laying a single hand on Sakura. There was no way he was going to let the pervert who trained _Naruto's _ dumb ass get anywhere near her.

'_So my first assumption was correct…'_

"…Sasuke-teme! Are you even listening to me?"

Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto glaring at him. Sasuke raised one eyebrow, looking around at where he was. He was unconsciously following Naruto around, not even aware of his surroundings. Sasuke looked around and noticed that he had been here yesterday; the Mist leader's building.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke demanded. Naruto frowned.

"We're going to tell the Leader here what happened so hopefully he'll lend us Kakashi-sensei and we can go save Sakura-chan."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "I don't need his help."

Naruto sighed, which earned a glare from Sasuke. "Sasuke you can't be serious. We need his dog tracking unit."

"Che. You can sniff him out, can't you?"

Naruto crossed his arms, insulted. "I'm a fox, not a dog, Teme. Whatever problem you have with Kakashi can't last forever."

Sasuke looked of to the distance, narrowing his eyes at the rising sun.

"Fine."

* * *

"Okay, what's this all about?" Kakashi asked as he walked into the office. The leader had previously politely excused himself to give the team some privacy. The young jounin leaned himself against the desk, watching Naruto and Sasuke carefully.

Then it occurred to him, someone was missing.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked, he watched as Sasuke instantly tensed, and Naruto eye's turned a darker shade of blue.

"Well…that's kind of why we're here…you see Sakura is…"

"Missing." Sasuke finished off.

Kakashi's closed briefly. "How the hell is she missing, _Uchiha_ ?"

"What?" Sasuke asked a hint of anger in his voice. He didn't like the tone Kakashi used with his name, and his anger seemed to be pointing right at him.

"You were supposed to be watching her, right? How did she manage to go missing under your blessed eyesight?" Kakashi opened his one eye revealing the sharigan.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto started looking back and forth between the two sharigan wielders.

"If I knew how she went missing I wouldn't be here." _I don't even want your shitty help._ Sasuke added mentally.

"So, due to your carelessness she's gone. Do you even care for her at all?" Kakashi growled. Sasuke eyebrows furrowed, his curse pulsating.

"Fuck off, Kakashi."

"I told you if you harmed her once more, what I would do to you Uchiha. Did you think I was joking?" He reached for his kunai pouch. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously almost daring him to touch him.

"Whoa, guy's calm down!" Naruto said standing between them. "It's not his fault, Kakashi-sensei; it was my job to take care of Sakura also. The person snuck into their hotel room while they were sleeping."

Kakashi looked at Naruto. One part of the story Naruto was had just told, seemed to drift his thoughts away from killing his student…

"What do you mean by_**they ** _ _were sleeping'_ ?" Naruto paled instantly realizing his mistake.

"I-I meant while…_she_ was sleeping…and Sasuke too, but not together…cause you know, they're _not_ together or anything…yeah." He finished of lamely. He heard Sasuke groan, slightly frustrated.

"However we were sleeping is irrelevant. She was taken and that's all there is to it, and if you want to sit here and ramble on over every little detail, then be my guest. But I'm going to get Sakura with or without your help." Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.

"Aw, come on Sasuke-teme!" Naruto called out running after him. Kakashi stared at the two young men, one a traitor and the other a demon. He sighed running his hands through his gray hair, the one that he felt solely responsible for, is missing.

'_Good job, Kakashi, good job.' _

* * *

_**Flashback- Kakashi P.O.V** _

Kakashi scrambled sprinting from branch to branch, attempting to locate where the huge source of dark chakra was coming from. The only problem was that it was coming from everywhere, and in the dense forest it was making it impossible. To top it of it was pouring making everything slick and murky.

"Shit, where is she?" Kakashi cursed out loud, taking a sharp turn going deeper into the forest. He heard a sharp scream come from the other side of the forest, and turned around instantly.

Honestly he had no idea when and where she disappeared. One minute she was trailing behind probably spacing out, the next she was gone. Kakashi and Naruto had both separated in attempt to find her quicker, but to no avail. But knowing how loud the scream was, there was no doubt in his mind that Naruto was heading in the same direction.

Kakashi sped up his pace and stopped suddenly on a branch looking down into a very convenient clearing. Right in the middle was Sakura beaten till a point where the blood on her body seemed to coat over her as if she was wearing one huge jumpsuit. But there was someone on top of her, dressed in a black cloth, with strange scribal marks down his arm. Now if it those were the only things he noticed, then Kakashi would have killed that man right on the spot, for ever laying a finger on Sakura.

But there was one distinct trait that stood out, the raven spiky hair.

"Sasuke…" Kakashi whispered. A warm instantly disappeared from his chest, leaving him cold. And while he was standing there in shock, watching as Sasuke harshly placed his lips on Sakura's, he identified the feeling. It was almost as if the little hope for Sasuke that he had carried all these years had vanished. The idea that maybe pupil will realize how the entire avenger thing was pointless, and just come _home_ .

He let him venture out on his own, let him find out his true destiny for himself. God, how foolish he was. Or still is. Kakashi's body went rigid, as a new feeling covered over the cold empty feeling. Anger. He growled, almost animal like, and preformed a few hand signs, preparing himself for a new jutsu he had never had a chance to try out. But for right now, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Instantly a bluish light captivated his hand, as sparks shot everywhere, but not a single noise erupted from the ball of light **(lmao...Ahh…XD)** .

"Silent Chidori," Kakashi hushed under his breath and charged right at Sasuke. Sasuke looked up from Sakura, and his eyes widened in shock, as Kakashi jabbed his hand right through his lower stomach. Kakashi grabbed locks of his hair, and slamming him into a nearby tree. Sasuke gasped for air, as blood spewed from him mouth, Kakashi twisted his fist out of his stomach slowly taking his hand out.

"Long time no see," Kakashi spat, his hands dripping with his once favorite student's blood.

Sasuke grunted in response, his eyes hard and maroon. Up close Kakashi noticed the markings on his arm, which weren't the same markings he had last time he saw Sasuke. These ones were, different. Darker, if that's even possible. They seemed to be engraved into his skin, leaving a trail of blood outlining each and every significant mark.

Sasuke noticed his stare and pulled his arm back under his cloak. "Don't touch me."

Kakashi tightened his grip around his neck. "I don't think you're in any position to make threats."

Sasuke stared at him, a wide grin on his face, "Aren't you forgetting something?" Sasuke replied sardonically, eyeing something over Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi followed his gaze and saw Sakura laying there, her body awkwardly bended, pieces of her clothing lay around her.

"Bastard."

Sasuke smile grew, "It would seem so."

Kakashi was just about to release his hold on Sasuke when as if on cue; Naruto came flying from the trees, right to his teammates aide.

"Sakura-chan!" He gently placed her head on his lap, and winced as her entire body shuddered. Naruto's eye's flamed red, and scanned the area, his eye caught Kakashi's, and slowly made his way to Sasuke's.

"Sasuke…" Naruto hugged Sakura's body closer; his red eye's turning back cerulean blue, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "…why would you…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. "I had the urge."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in disgust, and for the second time his new and improved Chidori formed in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Kakashi stated simply, without a hint of remorse in his voice. He raised his Chidori and aimed right for Sasuke's chest, where his heart, if he had one, would be.

Right as he was about to plunge and kill the world's youngest Uchiha, Sakura screamed out.

"Kakashi-sensei! P-please don't k-kill him…" Sakura coughed out, choking on her blood.

The entire group looked at her, slightly confused, especially Sasuke, who didn't bother to attempt to cover his shock. Kakashi looked back at Sasuke, looking at him with one eye closed cheerfully.

"Well…it shall be as she wishes." But before he released him, he jammed one last blast right next to the other hole he created in Sasuke. He cried out in pain, and Kakashi watched as he slumped over, unconscious.

Kakashi grabbed him, and tossed him over his shoulder carelessly, and turned to face Naruto who was carrying Sakura protectively, staring at him in shock.

"Is he going to be okay, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, honestly worried over his ex-teammate. Kakashi sighed.

"She told me not to kill him."

"Yeah, but did you-?"

Kakashi closed his eye, and did that really creepy smile thing that him and Sai have in common. "I did as I was told."

* * *

Kakashi leaned against the wall watching the traitor sleep soundly. It didn't seem fair how Sakura had begged him not to kill Sasuke, while Sasuke on the other hand had beaten the shit out of her, till nearly every bone in her body and been damaged.

He still wasn't quite sure why Sasuke would do it though; he always seemed so level-headed. And if anything he would never lay a hand on Sakura, no matter how much he claimed to have broken his bonds with his friends. He may be Sasuke, the avenger, but he was still Sasuke Uchiha, a clan that would never be caught beating a defenseless girl. Kakashi snickered; the thought of Sakura being defenseless was one huge joke. She could kick any and every male ass in all of Konoha without breaking a sweat, and would obviously pissed if she knew Kakashi still thought of her as that.

But he did. She was like his daughter, his only one. And it killed him to see her go on mission's, or date (except for when she was dating Shikamaru), or even drink. It was insane, but he felt the need to protect her, to protect his only cherry blossom.

He snapped back to reality as he noticed Sasuke's eye's twitch open. And it looked as if Sasuke hadn't even noticed in his room, because his normally cold face was filled with…remorse. Kakashi watched as Sasuke ran his bruised hand, which were probably given to him by Sakura (she did not go down without a fight), and ran it against his bandaged stomach.

"Damn it." Sasuke cursed under his breath closing his eyes and taking one deep shaky breath. In fact his entire body shook, uncontrollably. Finally, once Sasuke had calmed his nerves enough, he looked over at Kakashi and stared him straight on. "How long have you been here?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I've got guard duty on you. They think that maybe you won't try and escape with me in here. But I couldn't stop you once, so why would it work now?"

Sasuke looked as if he were to about to ask something, but then changed his mind. Kakashi leaned off the wall once he sensed Naruto's chakra heading towards Sasuke's room.

'Let it be clear Sasuke, I could care less about you and what you do to me. Or what you do to Naruto. But, if you touch Sakura in anyway…I will kill you." Sasuke stared back, indifferently almost as if he were spacing out on him. But then his eyes focused back on Kakashi, slightly confused by why Kakashi was still standing there and nodded.

"Understood."

* * *

**OKAY! So that's the story from Kakashi's point of view. Next chapter I might do Naruto's and we'll find out where Sakura is. And then we'll have HER POV. Which will be INSANE. So yeah. Oh. Btw. When does Sasuke and Itachi battle FOR REAL start in the manga? They keep putting it off. Ugh. But even though I love Sasuke with all my heart… I don't think he'll win. I just have this…feeling. Oh and i hate reading things in Italics...so that's why i tried to help you guys out with the flashback and didn't italisize it. **

**Anyways! Comment and rate…wait…no I mean REVIEW! Haha.**

**xooreoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sakura grunted as she shifted herself up against the cold pebble stone wall. She coughed, her entire body shaking, and placed her hand over her throat, attempting to ease the throbbing in her neck. For the past week, she's been locked up in Sasuke's old room at Orochimaru's layer… if you call a square shaped room with a single twin bed and a sink, a room…

Sakura's hand started to quiver involuntary, which has been happening a lot since Kabuto has been injecting her with unknown substances. She looked out the small window, glaring at the sunlight that was mocking her. She gave up trying to escape, after the fourth time, Orochimaru claimed that he "didn't appreciate her rebelling" and put her in a room with Kabuto for seven hours.

'_Ah, Sakura-chan, I can see why Sasuke never returned back to Sound after running into you.'_

Sakura felt her skin burn in all the spots he had touched her. That was the absolute last time she was ever going to try to escape, Orochimaru got his point across, clear as day.

Though, she still hadn't figured out why she was still here, why the even captured her in the first place. At first she thought it was to bring Sasuke back to them, since he left without their permission, but…

The way Kabuto has been injecting her periodically, and even though the accommodations were still shit like, it _was_ Sasuke's room, which was the equivalence to a five star room. So she must have some importance right?

_Damn it, _Sakura cursed.

Sakura tensed as she heard footsteps heading towards the door. The door opened and Kabuto stood the smiling with a needle in his hand.

"Well, good morning Sakura-chan."

Sakura cringed, not answering.

Kabuto took a step towards her, using his free hand forcing her to look at him. "I hope you're enjoying your boyfriend's old bachelor pad."

"Fuck off." Sakura gritted. Kabuto chuckled using his thumb to brush her cheek.

"I see that Sasuke has taught you his language, how sweet." Sakura narrowed her eyes. Kabuto smiled, and injected her with the needle, with little fuss from Sakura. "Well, not putting up a fight this time?"

Sakura held her gaze with him, not answering again, which just seemed to make Kabuto amused.

"Well, it seems the little cherry blossom has given up?" Kabuto raised an eyebrow.

"Shut-up," Sakura hissed. Yes, she can't escape because of the damn chakra binding they put on her when she entered here. Kabuto smiled half-heartily, and placed his hand under her thigh.

Sakura's eyes widened "Don't touch me." She spat at him. Kabuto's grin faded as he wiped the spit from his face.

"You let Sasuke touch you like that, don't you?" Sakura blushed astonished, "That doesn't concern you!"

"I suppose I was correct. Well, Sakura-chan, it seems that I'm a little bit jealous." Kabuto placed his finger on her lip and softly brushed it, his smile returning. Sakura froze as his lips replaced his fingers.

But before she could push him away, he broke the kiss and smiled at her, before heading towards the exit.

* * *

"Fuck it!" Sasuke cursed as him and Naruto ended up at a dead end…_again. _Sasuke's eyes turned back to its charcoal color he turned around and headed back to where they came from without a word.

Naruto watched concerned, for his best friend. The past week has been horrible for him, and even though Sasuke tried to hide it, he was a nervous wreck.

Naruto ran up to catch up with him, "Hey, man its fine we'll find her." Sasuke said nothing, his jaw tightened. "Seriously, she'll be fine, teme."

Sasuke glared at him and frowned, "Damn it, Naruto we've been looking for a week."

"Yeah, bu-"

"A whole fucking week, they could've done anything to her by now. You have no idea what Orochimaru and his goddamn slave, are capable of." Sasuke snapped, cutting him off. Naruto was a bit taken back, and for some reason, Naruto had the impression that Sasuke_ knew_ the real reason why Orochimaru took Sakura in the first place.

"Teme, I know just as well as you do how capable they are. But they won't hurt her, I'm sure they're just trying to bring you back 'home'."

"Naruto, I fucking lived with the snake-bastard for six years. He wouldn't take as much effort to send Kabuto to a random village and take Sakura in the middle of the night. He likes it when I go to him on my _own will_, and blackmailing me isn't under my own will. He wants her for something else and the longer we take, the less of a chance that Sakura will even still be alive…"

Sasuke's voice faded off and he stared straight ahead of him, his breath becoming unsteady. Naruto opened his mouth to say something encouraging, but nothing came out. He couldn't…he didn't know what to say. This was his best friend from back when he was little would curse the world for taking everything away from him, and now that he's actually found something to smile about, it was also taking away from him. Naruto eyes traveled to his curse mark, and anger formed with in.

Orochimaru was what tore apart his team. Who knows what might have happened if they never met him. Sakura and Sasuke would've probably been going out for quite some time now, and even though it's okay with him now that the two are together, maybe if they hadn't of met the bastard, he could have gotten Sakura.

But then again Sasuke's always had a thing for her, and to this very day he still denies the fact that he ever had a 'crush' on her. But Naruto could tell, they always had their awkward moments, and it used to make him jealous, so much that he even claimed himself that he liked Sakura, just to compete with Sasuke. As they grew older and Sasuke left, Naruto realized that maybe he was always just competing with Sasuke, and he really didn't love Sakura like he claimed he did, he just loved her as a friend or a sister.

And a sister love is completely different from true love, and Naruto was damn sure that's what Sasuke feels when he's with her. And now that Orochimaru has managed to sneak his way back in, and take the thing that makes Sasuke _Sasuke_. Well he wasn't just going to stand by and watch.

Especially with that new curse mark that Orochimaru engraved on Sasuke a year ago and nearly killed Sakura while using Sasuke's body as a pawn…

* * *

**_Naruto ._**

Naruto paused before he placed his hand on the door knob. Behind the door, laid Sasuke, whom Kakashi dragged his sorry ass from the forest. Naruto's palms turned sweaty just thinking about the confrontation of seeing his so called _best friend_.

That's the problem. He didn't know what Sasuke was to him anymore. Yes, he's always saying how he'll rebuild Team seven and how Sasuke hasn't changed and he's just confused on what path to take.

But…how can he face him after he saw what he did to Sakura, his other best friend that's stuck with him through thick and thin?

He just visited Sakura's room, and Tsunade had told Naruto that it was a miracle that Sakura survived.

'_A damn miracle…'_ Naruto thought, as his mind replayed Sakura laying there completely covered in bandages, her skin so pale that you'd confuse her with Orochimaru.

God, it scared him.

He took a deep breath and put on a cheerful grin as he entered the room. He saw Kakashi standing there his arms crossed his position firm, and Sasuke was staring out the window.

Naruto stared at Sasuke, who didn't even register the fact that Naruto came into the room, and noticed that he too, was also really pale, paler then usual. He didn't look as severely injured as Sakura was.

But the thing that caught his attention was the seal on neck that Orochimaru had given him. Blood was seeping through the bandage that they placed on top, and blood revealed a different design then the usual one he's used to seeing.

"Naruto," Kakashi acknowledged. Naruto nodded at him.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, do you think I can talk to Sasuke...alone?" Naruto asked, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't answer any of the questions that he had planned if Kakashi were in the room.

Kakashi looked at him skeptically and then shrugged, "Sure. I'll go check on Sakura." And he left.

"Hey," Naruto said taking a seat to next Sasuke's bed. Naruto didn't get a response from him, but wasn't too shocked on that. He'd promised Sakura that he'd put team seven back together, and first, he must forgive and forget.

"Uh…How long are you in here for?" Naruto tried again.

"…"

"…do you like the food?" Sasuke's eyes moved from the window to Naruto, his eyes narrowing once he landed on Naruto's face.

"Shut up."

Naruto instantly did as he was told, his leg bouncing up and down of the ground nervously. Minutes passed when neither said anything.

Naruto cleared his throat, "So…that's new."

Sasuke, distracted out of his own thoughts, stared at Naruto blankly. "What?" He asked coldly.

"The curse seal…it's a different shape."

Sasuke remained silent for a while and then to Naruto's surprise said something, "Orochimaru 'renewed' the old one."

"Oh."

"…"

"…That sucks."

Naruto watched as Sasuke's eyes searched his eyes, and his lips twitching upward.

"Hn."

Another awkward silence passed, with Sasuke staring off into space, in his own thoughts, while Naruto was acting twitchy and nervously. For the longest time he thought of the day where Sasuke would be in Konoha, on the hospital bed, after Naruto beat his sorry ass up, and he'd been planning exactly what he was going to say to him.

Now that the time has come, all the things he was going to say completely slipped his mind. And right now was a critical moment, because whatever he said could either determine Sasuke staying in the village for the rest of his life, or leaving the moment he's all ready to go.

"Uh…she's alright you know?" Naruto started eyeing Sasuke nervously. He watched as Sasuke's fist tightened and his jaw clenched. Naruto took this as a sign to go on. "Y-yeah, she's unconscious right now, but…not in a coma, just sleeping…Tsunade says she'll make a full recovery."

Sasuke took a deep shaky breath. Naruto's heart stopped as he watched Sasuke's shoulders shake uncontrollably.

And then there were tears.

_I…I got to get out of here. _Naruto thought his eyes flashing towards the exit. This was the last scenario he expected. He'd expected Sasuke to blow up at him screaming about his brother, and how there was no way in hell that Konoha's hospital was going to restrain him.

He'd expected him to even remain silent through the entire thing, and sneak out softly in the night. But for him to cry…He couldn't handle that.

But he stayed, sitting there quietly as the room was filled with silence and quiet repressed sobs.

"Shit…" Sasuke cursed softly. His body composure returning back to its stoic pose, he ran his hands through his hair tiredly, and kept his face towards the window, almost as if he was making an effort not to look at Naruto's face.

"Where are they keeping her?"

Naruto looked at him, and he felt something in the back of his mind telling him not to tell him, not to tell him where they were keeping Sakura.

_He's already hurt her enough…_Naruto thought, as his mind reeled back to the days right after Sasuke left the village, and the tears she shed for him. Then here they are five years later and he wants to know where she is so he could possibly finish her off?

"She's right down the hall, room 289." Naruto replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. He heard Sasuke rip the ivy out of his arm and get out from the bed.

"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed he looked up to see his friend's back facing him, his hand reaching for the door knob. Yeah, he knew that there was a chance that Sasuke could probably dive a kunai through Sakura's heart…again.

But for some reason, he felt as if the Sasuke he knew as a kid was probably still there, maybe it was the old Sasuke who just had the emotional breakdown…

_He's still the same Sasuke_

"…it's good to have you back, teme." He could tell that he startled Sasuke, because he hesitated a moment longer then he would've.

"No one said I was staying...dobe," and then he left. Naruto sat there a moment longer a smile forming on his face.

* * *

Lol I kno I kno this isn't the action packed chapter everyone was waiting for…but I got tired and decided to end it here…ugh..don't worry more details later! Love everyone out there who reads and reviews! Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

"_So how will I know that you won't go demonic on me?" Sakura teased one sunny day. Sasuke had decided to take time out off his crazy schedule and actually take Sakura, his girlfriend, out on a date, only he refused to call it a date, so he referred to it as an "appointment"._

"_Sakura," Sasuke warned handing her ice cream and sitting down on one of those picnic tables. Sakura laughed in response to the tone he used to say her name._

"_No, seriously, like what should I do if you go all demonic on me and those crazy black tattoos take all over your whole body?" Sasuke grunted, but Sakura only smiled at him and continued. "Like, do you have some special weak points I should know about?" _

"_Sakura, you're crazy."_

"_And you're possessed. We all can't be perfect, now can we?" Sakura started to lick her strawberry ice cream that Sasuke had so selflessly bought for her. _

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up."_

_Sakura laughed, and brushed her hair behind her ears staring off into the distance, her mind wandering. Sasuke looked at her for a few minutes, tracing over her facial figures with his eyes._

_He cleared his throat and Sakura turned to stare at him her emerald eyes dazzling. Sasuke casted his eyes to the bit of ice cream that was mistakenly on her cheek. He used his finger to clean it._

"_You're annoying."_

"_That isn't news." Sakura laughed again. "You always tell me that."_

_But instead of smirking Sasuke kept a stern face, thinking carefully about what he was going to say, before he said it._

"_Your annoyance is my weakness."_

_

* * *

_

Chapter Seven.

Sakura's eyes burned as she turned over on Sasuke's old mattress, which was quite uncomfortable. _'Explains why he's always so cranky…'_ Sakura rubbed her temple, her head throbbing, her arms were numb from whatever Kabuto had been injecting into her, and her legs felt so heavy from lack of usage.

'_Shit…why am I so pathetic'_ Sakura thought bitterly. It's not like she was kidnapped by the Akatsuki, the most wanted group of ninja's known to mankind, getting kidnapped by them would be a compliment. That means you're quite an important person.

But, no. Instead she was taken by Kabuto, Orochimaru's slave or something, which was a complete insult to her. She was a strong kuniochi in Konoha that many little girls looked up too. She was trained by the 5th Hokage herself, her best friend was the nine tailed fox holder and she was dating a fucking Uchiha for goodness sake.

She should not be here.

Sakura let out a frustrated cry and threw one of the plates against the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. Kabuto kept these bare plates in the room for her so that whenever she felt hungry she could look at the plate and _pretend_ there was food on it. So thoughtful.

Suddenly she heard footsteps outside her room, and she was ready to see Kabuto's nerdy face appear from the door frame, and though she had her chakra almost completely drained so her monstrous strength was reduced to a complete null, she felt like she needed to punch him in his face.

But instead it was a very small women dressed in what looked like to be a big baggy brown sac. She had long white hair, and her eyes were outrageously blue standing out against her snow white hair.

"H-hello." She stammered at first her eyes kept downwards. Though she had white hair, Sakura could tell that she couldn't be past the age of 30.

"Hi…" Sakura started cautious at first. This was Orochimaru's layer after all; when she first met Kabuto she thought he was harmless.

The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue and white pill.

"Kabuto-sama asked me that I should give this to you." She said reaching her hands out for Sakura to take it. Sakura stared at her like she was crazy. Honestly, she was acting as if Kabuto's mystery pill was supposed to be candy.

'_Does she really expect me to just take it?'_

"Sure, I'll take it." Sakura lied. The blue-eyed woman raised her eyes from the floor and looked straight into Sakura's eyes, and let out an earsplitting scream.

Sakura stepped back, a bit alarmed.

"I-it's you!"

A look of confusion crossed Sakura's face, and she cleared her voice nervously. As a medic ninja, what she's learned is to never upset a patient who is mentally disturbed. And this woman was clearly in that category.

"Who? Do you know me?" She asked slowly. The woman smiled happily revealing her yellow teeth, her two front teeth missing.

"Yes, the small girl from the picture." She reached into her dress, if you could call it that, and pulled out a tattered picture of Sakura when she was twelve. "The girl with the pink hair. "

* * *

Sasuke cleaned placed his sword back in its sheath early morning. Today Orochimaru had sworn to teach him a way to have his chidori go from his hand and into his beloved sword, and he personally could not wait. Though Orochimaru was one of the creepiest beings on Earth, it pained Sasuke to admit that he was also one of the most powerful.

His knowledge on genjutsu alone, Sasuke honestly thought that it was enough for him to defeat his older brother he felt such strong hate for.

"Tara." Sasuke called out in a hushed tone, but just like he intended his maid came rushing in from the next room, her blue eyes weary.

"'Y-yes Sasuke-sama."

"I'm about to go train. I want this room spotless by the time I get back, and _do not_ forget to clean out my closet again." Sasuke said without a hint of politeness. Sasuke walked out the room shutting the door loudly behind him, and Tara listened as the footsteps became softer and quieter.

Tara looked at the state of the room. A year and a half ago the very neat Sasuke, had always refused Orochimaru's offer for a maid. He thought it was demeaning and stupid. He was the only twelve year old boy in the room, how messy can it get?

But, as the training became more rigorous, the last thing he wanted to do after a hard work out the night before was make his bed in the morning. So he finally gave up and after turning down handful of ready-to-work maids, he finally settled on Tara. Mostly because she didn't talk much, and seemed frightened of him, in other words she would work twice as hard to impress him.

Tara sighed and started picking around the room, from dirty shirts, to the changing the bed sheets. All that was left was his closet.

When she opened it was mostly empty, except for a certain grimy black bag. It looked as if Sasuke hadn't touched it since he arrived at Orochimaru's layer a year and a half ago. She picked it up; suddenly curious by the bag Sasuke couldn't bring himself to throw out himself.

'_I wonder…'_ She thought, opening the bag carefully.

But instead it was filled with a ton of old books, and some faded blue shirts with the Uchiha symbol on the back.

"What's this…?" She asked herself out loud. She quickly glanced at the door, and realized that Sasuke had literally left about an hour ago, and would not be coming back for another three hours.

So, carefully she took out the shirts, and laid them neatly on the floor, and then opened the books. After flipping through most of them, she noticed they were only books about being a ninja.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Disinterested the Tara was about to place them back in the bag and throw it out just like Sasuke had asked her too, but her eye quickly caught a glimpse of a corner of a photo that stuck out from the pages of '_How To Create 3000 Clones of Yourself : Shadow Clone Jutsu 101'_. She quickly flipped to that page, and suddenly, the _'book' _had turned itself to a scrapbook.

She took a sharp intake in breath as the latter pages were filled with vivid colors. The color and light from the photos literally invaded the entire gloomy room, eating up the darkness.

"These must be the pictures from Konoha…"

She's never left Sound in her entire life and that was her deepest desire, to leave the Sound. Leave this dreadful place, and go anywhere and preferably head to Konoha, but beggars can't be choosers.

Her eyes scanned through the pictures. They were mostly filled with, what looked like a hyperactive blond, a photogenic pink haired girl, and a (somewhat) happy looking Sasuke.

There were pictures of the three of them posing on top of tree branches.

Another where Sasuke was on the hospital bed looking quite embarrassed and his two friends stood smiling next to him.

There was even one with Sasuke scowling, but his eyes were still lit with so much happiness. His pink haired friend was poking his cheek with her finger laughing. She carefully peeled the picture from it's pages, and stared at it for what seemed like days. She memorized every single detail, from Sasuke's expression, to the sea foam nail polish on his pink headed female friend.

"Fuck." A voice groaned from behind the door.

Tara's heart sped up, as she took notice of her surroundings. The sun was setting, casting an eerie glow in the Sasuke's room.

'_Sasuke-sama is back already!'_ She thought frantically stuffing the picture she was holding in her pocket, and quickly closing the book, but in her rush some of the pictures that were poorly taped in fell to the floor.

The door opened, and in came a very exhausted Sasuke.

"What are you still doing here?" He demanded, but his exhaustion was very clear in his voice, and overtook his usually angry tone. Sasuke through his sword and other stuff onto the floor and climbed on to his prison-like bed. Tara stood frozen beside the bed, looking at the mess on floor nervously. Sasuke turned his attention to the mess on the floor, and his eyes darkened. "What is this?"

Tara started visibly shaking, "U-um…I was cleaning…and they fell from the book."

Sasuke sat up, and knelt on the floor, starting to finger through the pictures. Tara held her breath, waiting for Sasuke's reaction. But he didn't say anything.

"A-are they your friends?" She asked bravely.

"_Were_," Sasuke replied, not even looking at her as he said it.

"They look lovely."

"…"

"The blonde boy was he your best friend?"

"…No."

"What about the girl with the lovely pink hair?"

"…"

"She's very beautiful. What's her name?"

"I don't remember."

Tara looked taken back, "But I thought you said they were your friends."

"I said _**were**_. I don't remember their names."

"But…it was only a year and a half ago…"

Sasuke met her eyes. "So?"

"…nothing." Tara bowed her head, obviously hurt. Sasuke stood up angrily and kicked all the photos into one ruff pile, and did some hand signs, and fire appeared from his mouth.

Tara gasped, "S-Sasuke-sama! Do not burn them!" But he ignored him, and the photos burned.

* * *

Tara let Sakura examine the picture. The only picture she managed to save that day. She always kept it with her, almost as if it would bring her the luck she needed to leave this horrible place. Or, that's at least what she hoped it would do.

"Where did you get this?" Sakura asked, half shocked but mostly disturbed. Tara shook her head, but only looked at her.

"What is your name?" She asked slowly and carefully.

Sakura thought about if she should respond, but figured that the lady was just probably curious and it really could do no harm.

"Sakura Haruno. But seriously where did you get this picture?" She asked pointing to a picture of her and Sasuke way back in the past.

But instead of answering Tara snatched the picture back and placed it back in her dress. There was a soft cry of Tara's name coming from a near room. And Tara slowly backed out of the room. Her eyes never leaving Sakuras.

Sasuke placed his glass onto the bar. As Naruto gulped down his last bit of alcohol. He was sure Naruto had by far exceeded six shots, his eyes head now becoming droopy under his orange hood. Seriously, Sasuke told him to be discrete, since they were in a Sound Village bar trying to start back from square one, and he wears an orange sweater.

Sasuke shook his head, his raven locks caressing his face, as his vision became more blurry.

"Naruto I didn't bring you here to get drunk."

Naruto titled his head towards him, his mouth hanging open. "I am not _dwunk_." He slurred.

Sasuke eyed him dangerously, "We are here to get information on Sakura's whereabouts. Don't be stupid."

Naruto just tossed his head back and laughed drunkenly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, ignoring him. Honestly, he was exhausted. He couldn't hasn't slept this entire week, and hasn't stopped looking for her. But all the leads him and Naruto have gotten were all dead ends. And it was really frustrated him.

"Cheer up Sasuke! Sakura is going to be finneee man. She's totally strong enough to kick anyoness ass." Naruto encouraged laying his head on the ice cold bar.

Sasuke rolled his eyes; a drunk Naruto was never entertaining. He heard the bar doors chime, but Sasuke paid no attention to it though, and called the bartender over.

"Yes? What more would y'all like?" A red headed girl said, flipping her hair back revealing her exposing breasts.

"I don't want any more drinks. I want to talk to you about something more important."

"Oh! I usually charge fifty per hour, but for you cutie, it's _free_."

Naruto laughed again, "He's not looking for a whore!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "I'm looking for this girl." Sasuke pulled out a picture of Sakura that he secretly kept in his back pocket at all times.

The girl took the picture and examined it. "Damn, is that the real color of her hair?"

"Yup!" Naruto said just a bit too loudly.

"Really? That is so rad. I wish I could get this exact shade of pink."

"It's sick isn't it?" Naruto agreed pouring himself another shot. Sasuke snatched the bottle away from him.

"Look. I don't have time for this. Have you seen her?"

"Jeez, why your girlfriend ran away from you?" The red head asked handing him back the photo. "Though, I haven't seen her around, I could totally be your pink girl friend cutie!"

Sasuke placed his hood back on his head, "No thanks." Instead he ordered another shot from the red head obviously frustrated with this ordeal. What would happen if he never found her? Can he really go back to Konoha empty handed?

'_Shit.'_ Sasuke cursed.

If he ever found Sakura, as long as he was around, she was completely and forever forbidden on going on solo missions ever again.

"E-excuse me, can I have Musical Twist?"

Sasuke heard a familiar timid voice say behind him. He could feel his pulse increase rapidly, there was only one person he's ever known to actually drink the alcohol Musical Twist.

'_Orochimaru…'_

Sasuke whipped his head around, and there stood a very frail looking woman, that he instantly recognized.

"Tara!" Tara froze at the mention of her name by the hooded stranger. But, once she stared at the eyes carefully, she knew exactly who it was.

"S-Sasu-" Sasuke quickly muffled her scream with his palm. They _were_ undercover after all. She quickly nodded understanding the situation. Sasuke released his hand, and suddenly questions started pouring from Tara's mouth. "W-what are you doing here!"

The bartender cleared her throat, and Tara quickly apologized for not collecting the Musical Twist she ordered. She placed money on the counter, and sat next to Sasuke on the stool, clearly confused.

"They said you had gone back to Konoha!" She said in a hushed tone.

Sasuke ignored the statement, and changed the conversation. "Where is Orochimaru?" He asked.

"Yeah! Where is he…that snake…man…thing!" Naruto added, clearly not sober yet.

Tara bit her bottom lip with the little teeth she had, "I can not reveal that to you."

Sasuke growled under his breath, but couldn't really do much about it. Obviously her loyalties still remained with that snake bastard.

"Whadda about her?" Naruto asked pointing to Sakura's picture. "Have you seen her?"

Tara's eyes opened, and looked away from the picture and to the ground. "Uh…N-no!"

Naruto shrugged, "Oh, well."

Sasuke snatched the picture from Naruto's hand and used his other hand to grab Tara's face so that she would look at him.

"You're lying!" Sasuke snarled his eyes hardening. Tara started to shake under his hold.

"I-I am not. I haven't seen her face before!"

Naruto suddenly regained some sense, "Sasuke! What are you doing? She said hasn't seen her before!" Grabbing his arm, attempting to loosen his grip on her, but Sasuke didn't budge.

"She's fucking lying to us you dumb ass!" Sasuke shouted causing everyone in the bar to stop and stare at them. The bartender came back to them and looked at them a bit questionably.

"Look, if y'all want to get down an' dirty! Fine by me, but y'all can't do it 'ere!" She ordered pointing to the door.

Naruto smiled apologetically. "No, they'll be no need!"

But Sasuke ignored them both.

"Have you seen her!"

"N-no!"

"Stop lying!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you _are!_"

"I-I'm not! I have never ever seen Haruno-san before!" She screamed shaking loose of Sasuke's hold. But instead of Sasuke getting angry, he simply did his famous smirk.

"Really? Then how did you know her name?"

* * *

**End! Ta da! Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto at all! **

**Chapter Eight.**

**

* * *

**

"_So how many tomatoes can you eat in one minute?" Sakura asked one sunny day. She and Sasuke had decided to go on a picnic…okay so it was all her idea. Sasuke lay on pink blanket Sakura had laid out that was covering the grass, a soft breeze blowing through his raven hair. _

"_Why are you asking?"_

_Sakura simply shrugged, chipping her green nail polish off. "Just wondering."_

"_Well, you wonder weird things."_

_Sakura pouted, "So you're not going to answer?"_

"…"

"_Aw, Sasuke!"_

"…"

_Sakura sighed, "You're no fun!" She laughed anyway, and started slicing apples for him. _

_Sasuke closed his eyes and listened carefully to the soft sound of the knife cutting the apple. Honestly he can say that he's never been so at peace, even before his family died. There was always some kind of tenseness in his home that no amount of cookies his mother baked could manage to make it disappear. _

_But for some reason, when he was with Sakura, everything just felt …right._

"_Twelve." _

_Sakura stared at him, "Did you say something?"_

_Sasuke groaned under his breath, "I hate repeating myself, Sakura."_

"_Well, why do you like saying things when I'm not listening?" Sakura retorted._

_Sasuke sat up and crossed his legs. "I can eat __**twelve**__ tomatoes in one minute." He said very slowly, making sure Sakura heard every single word._

_Sakura froze and stared at him. "Oh. That's a lot of tomatoes."_

_

* * *

_

Sakura sighed for the thousandth time, blowing her hair in front of her face.

Seriously that's all she's done, for the past day. It felt like she was in some kind of time chamber, where the days just seemed to roll into each other and quickly Monday became Saturday and vice versa.

She ran her hands through her now dirty pink locks, and bit her bottom lip through frustration.

"What am I going to do…?" She wondered out loud. Orochimaru still hasn't even bothered to come to her and tell her what his freaking issue was, and why he decided to kidnap her in the first place. It really made her wonder what his whole plan was, and why it involved her.

But, her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed footsteps under the door, and it opened. Expecting to see that white haired lady again with another weird revelation, she stood up, but was quickly disappointed when she realized it was just Kabuto.

She quickly snorted and hardened her gaze at him. "What are you doing here?"

Kabuto just smiled casually as if she just asked him about the weather and continued, "I love how you talk with such confidence though, clearly you do not have the upper hand in this situation."

Sakura fought the urge to roll her green eyes, but stood her stand, refusing to be intimidated by Kabuto's presence.

"Look whatever you have to inject me with, just get it over with and do it already. I don't have all day."

Kabuto shrugged and pulled out one of his famous needles, "It seems you are a bit bitter towards me, Haruno."

"Huh, I really wonder what reason I could possibly have to hold any sort of bitterness towards you." She replied sarcastically.

Kabuto took one step towards her and watched as her body visibly trembled when he ran his tongue over his lip. "Whether you know it now, or later, this particular injection is in your own benefit."

She took one step backwards as Kabuto took one step towards her, but tried to keep a hard face. "I really doubt that."

"Oh, but it is true." And quickly Kabuto managed to skip at least five steps towards her with remarkable speed that Sakura didn't even know he had, and had managed to appear a mere inch away from her face. His body awkwardly touching hers. She shivered under his touch and his dusty eyes gazed into her eyes, but she quickly put her hands in front of her chest and pushed him away.

He staggered one step backwards but still kept that irritating Kabuto smile, which literally would make anyone feel like killing a baby.

"You're disgusting." Sakura declared. No one has ever dared to come that close to her, except for Sasuke. And she could honestly say that Sasuke would be far from happy to hear that _Kabuto _was the one overstepping that boundary he set.

But Kabuto ignored her and took another step towards her, this time his syringe ready in hand. "On the contrary, you haven't even seen the eclipse of how '_disgusting' _I can get."

* * *

Tara stood next to a lake, and beneath the lake stood the secret passage way that led to Orochimaru's new hideout. Tara frowned slightly, as she turned to face Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, who both had unfortunately had followed her here, so that they could retrieve their pink haired friend.

"This is where it's located." She softly bowed her head under Sasuke's quick glare.

"Under the water?" Sasuke questioned the tone of doubt clearly in his voice.

"Yes. Once you swim about half mile in, you will find a handle. If you pull the handle it will open to an underwater cave, clear of water. The good thing about this though, is that the layout for Orochimaru's layer has not changed and your room is still in the same position and state as it was before you left it. So you won't have any problems getting there."

"Oh, that's convenient." Naruto commented nodding his head in agreement. Sasuke ignored him and narrowed his eyes at Tara.

"From the way you're explaining things, its sounds like you're not coming with us to get her."

Tara's eyes opened, "Well, of course Sasuke-sama! I cannot. My loyalties are still with Lord Orochimaru, and if I am caught helping you, I can get killed!"

Sasuke uncrossed his arms and reached for a shuriken in his pouch, "And if you do not escort me to this place_, I will kill you_."

This is usually the part where Naruto jumps in; there will be no random bloodshed while Naruto is around… "Have you lost your mind? She's already helped us a lot, you jerk!"

"Shut up." Sasuke growled to Naruto, his eyes flashing red. Naruo gulped placing his hands in front of him. Sasuke nodded in response and turned his attention back on Tara. "Well?" Sasuke asked towards Tara, whose eyes were watering up. "It is your choice. I can make your death rather slow and painful."

Tara nodded her head, her dry white hair limply falling across her face. "Fine. I will take you."

Sasuke smirked and placed the shuriken back in his pouch. "Naruto you stay here."

Naruto's mouth dropped, "Excuse me! I want to save Sakura too you know? Jeez how can you be so greedy sometimes?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched, "Do not tick me off right now. We need you to stay here and make sure no unwanted sound nins are jumping into this lake, understood?"

Naruto nodded, "Sure, boss. Tell Sakura-chan that I wanted to be there though when you get her." Sasuke smirked in agreement and started to remove his sweater, but Tara told him to stop.

"It can be cold down there." She added.

* * *

Naruto sat by the lake throwing some stones into the lake, part of him anxious to see Sakura and secretly another part of him couldn't wait to get home. Not because he would have a hot cup of ramen waiting for him when he got there, or the nice hot bath he was going to have, or that amazing pile of dishes he left behind, no. He really wanted to get home and see his amazing…well his amazing wife.

Naruto stopped his little game of skipping rocks, and started playing with the gold band around his finger, smiling a bit. He knew that seventeen was a bit young to get married in societies mind. But honestly, from the minute Hinata told him that he loved her, he knew that he was meant to be with her. And who cares how old you are. As long as you're in love and you're a hundred percent sure that this was the person that you're meant to be with for life, then what does age matter for?

Naruto chuckled softly to himself, he was sure Hinata was probably up at all hours of the night trying to handle their over hyperactive three month old son, Kaori. Hinata named him of course, and it meant _strength._

As a new father he could only hope that his son would be strong no matter what circumstances are going to be thrown his was way. And him having two parents that were both ninjas he could only pray, that if anything were to happen to him and Hinata, his son would have the strength to know how to continue on with his life.

Just like his parents had wished from him 17 years ago…

* * *

"Fuck," Sasuke cursed, spitting out ice cold water onto the stony floor of Orochimaru's layer. He could feel that his fingers were numb from the lake water. How Tara was able to swim in and out of that thing like it was a hot tub was way beyond his thinking.

"Don't worry. You do get used to it." Tara said nicely, as if reading his mind. "Now, I hope you remember your way from here."

Sasuke snorted, "I did live here for two years."

Tara nodded, "Good. I wish you the best in your search for her Sasuke-sama. And I really do wish you happiness with her."

"We're not dating." Sasuke lied, his eyes hardening. "It's a mission with large amounts of cash awarded when completed nothing more."

Tara stared at him, completely bewildered why Sasuke would even bother lying about his relationship at this point. But she decided not to challenge him. She tensed as she heard two guards walking nearby, chatting about tonight's supper.

Tara quickly turned to warn Sasuke that he should hurry, but by the time she turned her head, he was already gone.

* * *

Sakura winced as she struggled to move her arms, but only ending up causing more harm than intended. Kabuto had thought it was a brilliant idea to handcuff each hand to different ends of a bed post, thinking it was a fair deal, since Sakura hadn't let him rape her.

Seriously.

He also thought that stabbing his syringe into her thigh, which caused her skin to form a weird bruise, was also fair. But then again, he is Kabuto.

Sakura felt an on unusual chill go from the point of where he injected her to heart, causing it to beat irregularly, and she spat out blood.

"Shit…" she cursed, her eyes watering up a bit. As her heart took another sharp beat that caused her back to arch in pain. Her face was covered in sweat and, her mouth gasping for water. Honestly she never had felt more desperate for help than at that moment.

For the second time that day, she could sense someone behind the door, and scrunched her eyes close. She could not deal with another dose of Kabuto's dry humor, and his sexual harassment. And what defense could she possibly have handcuffed to her bed? It was every rapists dream.

Sakura heard the door open, and expected to hear that silent, but deadly, noise of Kabuto pushing his glasses carefully up his nose, when instead she heard a freakishly familiar voice.

"Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes opened, as she instantly recognized the silky voice. The way the person managed to make his voice purr whenever he reached the _–ura_ part of her name.

"Sasuke-kun!" She shouted, attempting to jump up, but again forgetting she was handcuffed to the bed, ended up dislocating her right shoulder which caused her to scream out in pain. She fell back on the bed drenched in sweat, trying to subdue the pain, with the soft reminder that Sasuke, was here and everything would be better, because that's what he does. He makes everything better.

Sasuke was by her side in an instant, expertly removing the handcuffs, and had her on his lap. He cradled her in his arms, trying not to hurt her anymore then she already was, and just dropped his face into her hair.

"Fuck this, Sakura. Do you have an idea how much shit I've been through just looking for you?" he whispered into her hair holding her tighter.

Sakura felt a tear escape her eyes, and though on most cases she would never let Sasuke see her cry, just this one time she felt that it was alright.

"S-so? Does this mean no more A-ranked missions?" She sniffled trying to lighten the moment, but instead ended up coughing up blood onto Sasuke's sweater.

Sasuke looked at her clearly concerned about her well-being, "Have you fucking lost your mind? You'll be lucky if you ever go on a D-ranked mission again." He said simply. He removed his sweater and placed it on her, making sure to be careful about her right arm, which she just managed to dislocate, of course. He wanted the sweater to protect her from the icy water she was about to face.

But as he was placing it on her, his eyes finally came across this nasty blue bruise located on her thigh, where all her veins were clearly visible, and it looked like they were… pulsating.

"Who did this to you?" He asked his voice unusually quiet, still not understanding what could possibly cause _that._ He was no medic –nin, but he knew that bruises should look like that.

Sakura quickly covered it up with her left pale hand, "Nothing. I just fell."

Sasuke looked at her for a few seconds, if she honestly expected him to believe that, but decided that Tsunade could take a look at it when they get back home, and Sakura would just get the medicine she needs to get rid of it.

He placed Sakura on his back, and only when he was a hundred percent sure she was comfortable enough, he started to head out the door, when Tara suddenly appeared.

"Oh! So you found her, Sasuke-sama?"

Sasuke nodded, "I'm sure Orochimaru will find out she's missing soon, but I'm sure she'll be far away from here when he does. And you just tell him next time he tries to kidnap her again, he'll have to go through all of Konoha."

"Sasuke…" Sakura muffled at his back, coughing again.

"Sakura, be quiet and rest." He ordered, hoping that she would at least get some sleep before he had to wake her so that they could swim back to the surface.

Tara nodded, "I will be sure to pass the message. Now, please leave before more trouble comes. Your blonde friend is waiting for you." Sasuke nodded and ran past her, while faintly heard about Naruto's whereabouts, which was replied by a quick 'Shut-up' from Sasuke.

Tara smiled sadly at the retreating couple and said sadly to herself, _'Will I ever find true love_?'

"Tara?"

At the sound of her name, she quickly turned around and saw Orochimaru, who rarely comes off his bed, and Kabuto standing there smugly.

"L-lord Orochimaru!" She quickly fell to her knees and bowed her head. "I-I didn't know you were here!"

"Apparently, Sasuke-kun hadn't noticed either."

She tensed she attempted to bite her bottom lip, without her two front teeth.

"I hope you did what you were asked." Kabuto demanded, adjusting his glasses. Tara nodded.

"Y-yes. I managed to bring Sasuke-sama back to take Haruno-san, as ordered."

Orochimaru's smile grew. "Great. Everything is falling into place. Just how long will your medicine take, to react with her system Kabuto?"

Kabuto laughed softly, "Just nine months."

* * *

**WOO! Thanks for the support to the story guys! Especially my loyal fans like NorthernLights25, MissCherryBlossomCat and MissLadyEmiko, and so much more! It really is ur reviews that make me update and continue my stories! So thanks a ton! And I love you guys! REVIEW, HOMIES! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

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Sakura yawned as she turned her head over onto Sasuke's chest. It was an early morning, and she knew that Sasuke probably had some important mission to go on, but she couldn't bring herself to wake him up.

It felt like just years ago when he had swept into Orochimaru's palace like her prince charming, but in reality it was really just two days ago, and the two of them had already fallen back into their everyday pattern. Either, he sneaks into her apartment and stays the night there, or vice versa.

Sakura sighed. Sometimes being with Sasuke was a lot harder then she anticipated it being. Though most people wouldn't even understand how she could bring herself to be with a guy like _him._

He was so dark, with his clouded past.

He rarely got excited, even if you threw him a surprise birthday party and his own parents rose from the dead and attended.

And most of all, he was so_ protective_.

But if he wasn't all these things then he wouldn't be the Sasuke Uchiha that she loved so dearly with every inch of her being and who she would lay her life down for. And deep down inside, once you unraveled all the layers that make up Sasuke's hard shell, there was this amazingly sweet man that only she got to see. And that always made her feel very special.

Sakura returned back from Sasuke La-La land, when she felt his body stir from underneath her.

"Sakura…get off, you're heavy." He muttered sleepily, but both his eyes were half lidded, clearly still exhausted. Though he spoke those words, it was clear he did not mean them, because he placed his hand on the small of her back, caressing her.

"Good morning," Sakura spoke softly, smiling broadly at him. Sasuke simply used his other free hand to yawn briefly, and he glanced at the digital clock at his bedside.

"Shit." He cursed, carefully removing Sakura off of him, and sitting up. Sakura tumbled on the bed frowning.

"You have a mission today?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I have a mission _briefing_ today," He told her. "The real mission is in two days. I will be gone for only a month." Sasuke stood up and grabbed a random pair of pants from his closet and started putting them on.

Sakura's mouth opened agape, "A _month_! Sasuke-kun, but you just returned from saving me! Isn't there anyone else that can go?"

He looked at her incredulously, "Sakura. I'm the best." He walked over to her, and gave her a quick peck on the head. "It won't be long."

But Sakura wasn't having it,

"Sasuke-kun…please…?" She purred seductively. She knew Sasuke had a hard time resisting a good make-out session, and it was only obvious, well because he was a boy, and that's what they do. Make out.

"Sakura," Sasuke's jaw clenched, as he could feel his curse mark burning up. He swiftly turned around and pinned her back onto the bed, him on top of her, clearly giving him the upper hand. "Not. Right. Now." He made sure to enunciate each word, so that Sakura would have it clear and not try to manipulate his brain into wasting time, even though, he clearly wanted to forget his dumb briefing, and climb into bed with her.

Ever since he brought her back to Konoha, the urge to completely _have_ her became a lot stronger. And since they were still keeping their relationship a secret from the majority, it recently became harder to around her in broad daylight since attention on her was pretty high. The only time they have to each other is at night, and that's when his urge reaches his peak. But so far he's managed to restrain it, for both their sakes.

"Fine." Sakura pouted, Sasuke smirked, and pecked her on the forehead, and swiftly got himself off the bed. "But...!"

Sasuke stopped his walk to the bathroom. "But what?"

Sakura suddenly had a very stern face on, which did not suit her at all, might Sasuke add, "Sing for me."

Sasuke blinked. "You want me to sing for _you?_"

Sakura nodded happily, her pink hair flopping behind her. Sasuke walked back over to the bed, and looked at her straight into her emerald eyes. "I am not singing for _you._"

"Aww, Sasuke-kun why?"

"'Because, I don't want to."

"But, that's not fair! Naruto sings to Hinata all the time! He even made her a CD!"

Sasuke snorted. "Naruto also feeds his three month old baby blended ramen." Sakura's head flopped back onto her pillow, and she crossed her arms defiantly.

"You can be so annoying." She muttered hotly under her breath turning over to her side. Sasuke chuckled, and put his trip to the shower on hold, and walked back to his bed. He sat on it and ran his hands through her hair, feeling his curse mark burn slightly.

"What song do you want to hear?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip, and fought the urge to smile in victory. "_Mine_ by Taylor Swift." Sasuke nodded and cleared his throat, and Sakura turned him actually quite surprised that he was going to _sing_. It was so out of his character, so _un-Sasuke_ like.

But instead of a melodic tone coming out of his mouth, Sasuke started laughing, at first it was kind of restrained, but then it grew louder.

Sakura hit him on the shoulder, "What?"

Sasuke's laughter didn't stop though, and he just stood up and walked back over to the shower.

Sakura felt her face heat up; of course Sasuke wasn't going to sing for her! What was she thinking?

"You suck, Uchiha!" She shouted loud enough for him to hear it through the thunderous noise of the shower running. Instead of Sasuke replying though, he just continued laughing.

* * *

"_Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura skipped over to Sasuke one bright summer day, the Konoha sun beating down on the town. _

_Sasuke turned around staring at his girlfriend. They've only been dating for about two weeks and he was blissfully happy, though he wouldn't shout it from the rooftops. He didn't really want anyone knowing, seeing that he has so many enemies after him._

_Sasuke nodded in response and slowed his pace, so she could catch up to him. He rarely let them walk together in public without Naruto, because he didn't want anyone getting too suspicious of the two of them. _

"_Guess what?"_

"…"

"_Aren't you going to guess?" Sakura asked a smile on her face as wide as a two year olds. _

"_No."_

"_Oh." Sakura skipped in front of him, keeping her hands behind her still smiling. "I have a mission!"_

_Sasuke raised a single eyebrow, "If you've forgotten, you're a ninja." _

_Sakura giggled, "I know that! But this one is on my own!" Sakura clapped her hands excitedly, "Aren't you happy for me?" Sasuke's eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. _

"_I don't think that's a good idea."_

_Sakura frowned, "But, Sasuke-kun! It'll be the first on my own, without Naruto, Kakashi-sensi, or you! Don't you think I can handle this?"_

"_No. I don't think so. You're too weak. Quite frankly, you should quit being a ninja and become a teacher, or something." Sasuke knew that saying those words would piss her off, but he hoped that in return she would gain some sense and realize that what she was doing was completely stupid and reckless. Girls don't go on missions on their own. Isn't there a law against that in Konoha?_

_Sakura balled her fist, and quickly turned away from him. "You suck, Uchiha." She growled under her breath as she walked away. _

_Sasuke watched her go, thinking that she was headed back to her apartment to knit, or an activity close to that level of danger. But he was wrong._

_

* * *

_

"Dude! Are you sleeping?" Naruto whispered loudly in Sasuke's ear. Sasuke opened one eye, and glared dangerously into Naruto's.

"I _was_." Sasuke stretched and opened his eyes, disappointed to see the mission briefing still going on, which was lead by Kakashi, of course. It was long and boring, but in two days he'd be going on this highly important mission that only the best ninja's were asked to do it. Himself, Naruto, Neji and of course his ex-teacher, Kakashi.

Naruto sighed, but Sasuke ignored him. He sighed even louder, and Sasuke turned and glared at him angrily.

"What?" He hissed.

Naruto grinned, "Well since you ask…What are you going to get for Sakura for V-day?"

Sasuke rubbed his fingers against his temple. He could seriously feel that migraine coming on. "What is V-day?"

"Valentine's Day…?" Naruto explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sasuke groaned, "Nothing. She doesn't like stuff like that."

Naruto rolled his crystal blue eyes, "Oh, come on! All girls dig Valentine's Day! I'm getting Hinata a giant orange teddy bear, and then we're going to have a romantic dinner, dropping Kaori at Lee's house. He agreed to babysit."

Sasuke stared at Naruto a bit longer, seriously wondering why a very intelligent girl like Hinata, would choose a guy like Naruto. "You two are married. So your relationship is different from mine." He whispered, while Kakashi continued to groan on about how they would split up in the forest for an ambush attack.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, "So? You are going to marry Sakura aren't you?"

Sasuke froze. He never thought about it that far. He just assumed they'd be…well whatever they are, forever.

"Well, Sasuke? You can't tell me that there's another girl out there that can meet, your_ 'extremely'_ high standards." Naruto pointed out inserting the air quotes. Sasuke ignored the last part of the sentence.

"Fine. I'll get her something, when is this 'Valentine's Day'?"

"Duh." Naruto's smile grew, "It's tomorrow."

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, good morning!" Sakura greeted her teacher by bowing her head respectively. Tsunade nodded flipping through the piles and piles of papers on her desk.

"Why are you doing here today?" Tsunade asked, closing a file and looking up at her with half lidded eyes. "I gave you a day off today."

Sakura nodded in response, "I know you did, but Sasuke has been on my neck about coming to get something checked by you." Tsunade looked up at her curiously.

"Why, do you have a cursed mark as well?" Sakura snorted.

"If I did, don't you think Sasuke would have dragged me here by now, to get it scraped off, if possible?" Tsunade sighed.

"Possibly," For she also knew how dangerous Sasuke could get when it came to Sakura's safety. Tsunade stood up and walked in front of her desk and looked at Sakura, "So what is it you need?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably, and lifted up her blue dress and revealed a hideous bruise on her upper thigh. It had swollen a lot since it first appeared at Orochimaru's palace.

"Sakura…" Tsunade gasped, her mouth left open, as she knelt down on the ground to get a closer view. "What happened?"

* * *

Ino Yamanaka's head rose when she heard the bells of her flower shop door chime, signaling someone had just come in. "Hello! Thank you for dropping by the Yamanaka shop, can I interest you some petunia-"

Ino's rehearsed welcome was cut short when she noticed who actually came into the shop.

"Oh, my gosh, Sasuke-kun!" Ino screamed and instant blush came across her face. She still never got over her little childhood crush on the Uchiha, because, well he was so hot.

Sasuke nodded in response and walked up to the cash register. "Ino, I need your assistance."

Ino nodded happily, "Of course! Anything for you, Sasuke-kun!"

"I need you to help me buy _someone _a gift." Sasuke said in a half whisper, eyeing the old woman that was picking out red roses. Who knows what kind of gossip she could spread?

Ino's blue eyes widened, "Oh, for who?" Sasuke looked back at her, and cleared his throat. He almost forgot that Ino had no idea that he and Sakura were going out, with Ino being such a big mouth and all.

"…This…girl..." He lied.

Ino's smile grew, "Oh, do you have little crush on someone?"

Sasuke twitched, suddenly becoming irritated with the blonde. Why were the blondes in this village so damn annoying? "Look, Ino, do you want to help me or not?"

Ino untied her apron, and placed it on the counter. "Dad! I'm going out for second!" She screamed over her shoulder, and stepped out from behind the register. And winked at Sasuke, "Come on! Let's go find you a gift!"

* * *

Sakura's eyes were red and sore. Her bottom lip quivering as she lay limp on the hospital floor. "I don't understand…" She said, almost mutely. Tsunade sat next to her on the ground rubbing her back, as Sakura broke into quick sobs.

"Sakura we've run the test, over and over." Her voice cracked, and she swallowed back some tears as well. "But, there is no denying it."

Sakura simply shook her head, words no longer able to express how she felt at that moment.

Tsunade frowned, and brought her arms around her favorite student, letting her tears soak her shirt. There was nothing she could do, or say. Sakura was pregnant, and it wasn't Sasuke's child.

* * *

"So! Sasuke-kun! What about this?" Ino held up a pair of stripper shoes, that were bedazzled with rhinestones.

"For the last time Ino, I am not getting a gift for a whore." He growled, rubbing his hands through his hair. This day was becoming more tiring then he expected. And all he wanted to do was to go home and crawl into his bed, with Sakura by his side and sleep. Seriously who even came up with Valentine's Day? Didn't they know that Christmas and Birthdays were enough stress as it is?

Ino threw the shoes down in frustration. They had been to almost all the department stores in town, and still Sasuke could not decide on a gift. They've gone from bags, to ninja accessories, to flowers, and shoes! Every single clothe item known to mankind, they've looked. But, Sasuke seemed to have a specific taste, a taste he would not let Ino in on.

"It would be nice to know _who_ we're shopping for." Ino mumbled brushing past him, looking through more shoes.

"It's just someone." And after a moment he added, "Someone different."

Ino paused, and looked at the raven haired boy, who was looking at nothing in particular, but clearly in deep thought. Whoever he was shopping for, she sure was lucky.

"Oh, my gosh! I got it!" Ino screamed snapping her finger, as she grabbed Sasuke's arm and dragged him to the jewelry store. When they arrived she smiled graciously. "You can get her a necklace or a bracelet!"

Sasuke frowned, "Che. This girl does not do well with necklaces. She's very careless."

Ino screamed, which alerted everyone in the store, but she ignored them. "Well, what do you want me to do? You can't get her a ring, unless you're planning on proposing to her!" She shouted pointing to the rings on display. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but when he did he noticed a silver ring gleaming from the corner of his eye.

He walked over to it, and peered at it closely. The stone was a large lovely pink stone cut in an oval shape and it clearly stood out, compared to all the other flimsy rings.

The sales manager noticed, Sasuke staring at the particular item and walked over to him.

"It's lovely isn't it?"

Sasuke simply nodded, lost for words.

"It's the only one of its kind very expensive, might I say."

Sasuke looked at him curiously, "How much?"

The sales manager smiled cautiously and wrote down an eight figured number. But Sasuke didn't flinch, like all the other customers that were interested in the ring did.

"It's meant to be worn by the girl of your dreams. The girl you know what you cannot live without. The girl that will stand by you through thick and thin, in other words the girl you would like to marry."

"Like an engagement ring?"

The sales manager nodded. "Exactly."

Ino, who had been standing off to the side during this whole conversation, decided it was time to butt in.

"Excuse me, sir. He's not looking for an engagement ring. He's looking for a gift, for some chic."

"I'll take it." Sasuke interrupted placing down the money. Ino and the sales manager looked at him like he was insane.

"Are you serious?" They both bellowed at the same time.

Sasuke ignored them and grabbed the ring from display and held it up to the light.

"Sasuke-kun! You're only seventeen! What do you know about marriage? Especially to this secret girl that none of us have even met!"

But, Sasuke ignored her, and gave the ring to the sales manager so he could put it in a special case that it deserved to be in. After all, he was planning on proposing tomorrow night.

* * *

**Ah this chapter is gonna be split into two! I'm sure I'll have the next chapter up pretty quick!**

**Thanks for all the great support, for all the reviews, and remember reviews make me update faster… So all you lazy readers that read and don't review, start REVIEWING **** cause they make me happy! Hahaha**

**-xooreoxo**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

**Chapter Ten**

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Sasuke opened the door to his apartment, and walked in expecting to see Sakura sitting on his couch watching TV, like she usually does, but apparently not tonight. His apartment was dark and empty, and there wasn't a trace of fresh strawberry splash perfume, that usually welcomed him.

"Sakura?" He called out, turning on the lamp close to him. But the apartment looked exactly the same as it did when he left.

"_Maybe she's in my room…"_ He thought to himself, as he jogged slowly into his room. "Sakura?" He called out again slowly opening his door, but his bed was empty. At first, Sasuke's first instinct was to call a manhunt for her, but he decided against it. She was probably at her place, even though this week _she _was supposed to be staying at _his_ house. But whatever, she probably forgot.

"Che." Sasuke said out loud and threw his ninja equipment on his bed, and sat down next to them. He ran both of his hands through his hair and let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He pulled out the engagement ring box from his pocket, and ran his fingers over the velvet case. And to his great surprise his fingers were shaking. Was he actually…nervous? Him? Sasuke Uchiha? He doesn't get nervous. Not even when he saw Orochimaru for the first time. Okay, so at first he was kind of nervous, but… he got over that quickly. _Right?_

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered, placing the case back into his pocket, but again involuntarily let out another insecure breath. He stood up and grabbed his coat. There was only person he knew that he felt somewhat comfortable talking about this problem and that person _unfortunately_ was Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

Naruto groaned on the couch when he heard a repeated bang on the door. He stretched and glanced at the red digital numbers in the corner of the room, and it read, 12:01.

"N-Naruto-kun! C-can you get that?" Hinata somewhat screamed from the other room, as their son, Kaori, bawled hysterically. She was in their bedroom attempting to put Kaori back to sleep, but so far mission unsuccessful. So, Naruto thought he'd get some peace and quiet on the couch, but no, that rude stranger decided that _now _was good time to visit.

The knocking persisted, and Naruto groaned loudly while getting up. "I'm coming!" He shouted, reaching towards the door and opened it, only to Sasuke freaking Uchiha on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto screamed, pissed off. "And why didn't you just say it was you!"

Sasuke shrugged, "Didn't want to disturb Hinata."

"What!" Naruto hit his palm against his head, and dragged it down his face. "Do you know what time it is?"

Sasuke screwed his face in response. "Does it really look like I care?"

"Hey! You know what Teme! You can't just waltz over to my house, pound on my door like you're the freaking FBI, and then-"

Sasuke held his palm out, signaling that his little speech should seize, "I need...help." Sasuke spat out, slightly shivering a bit, who ever thought that it would come to the day where he would ask this blonde dobe for help?

Naruto raised a single eyebrow, "Really? Why, what up? Is Sakura-chan missing again, because seriously I think you might need to put a tracker on-"

"No, she's not missing." But then Sasuke remembered he couldn't actually find her, but he ignored that passing feeling. "I just bought something for her, and I wanted…wanted…"

"…to show me?" Naruto finished his sentence with a freakishly annoying grin on his face that exposed all his teeth, opening the door wider allowing Sasuke in, but Sasuke shook his head.

"I'd rather show you out here." Sasuke motioned Naruto outside, and he followed shutting the door quietly behind him. The air outside was chilly, since it was a February night. The moon was full and was shining over the entire village, and from Naruto's apartment on the 5th floor, when you stood on the balcony you could clearly see its beauty, and at this time there were just a trickle of villagers walking about getting their last minute errands, or…going to pick up whores at clubs that were probably wearing stripper high heels with bedazzled rhinestones.

Sasuke leaned against the banister just like how he used to back on the team's old meeting spot, the infamous team seven bridge. Naruto stood next to him with his arms crossed. "Okay, well what is it?"

Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet case and tossed it at him. Naruto caught it with a curious face, and then opened it.

Naruto's face dropped in surprise, as he looked at his best friend in shock, "You're proposing to Sakura-chan!" Sasuke flinched at the loudness of his voice. "You're joking right?"

"Do, I look I'm joking?" He said in a dead toned voice.

"Shit." Naruto cursed, which he rarely does. "Wow, you really do love her."

Sasuke flinched. "Who said I _love _her?"

"Well, you can't propose to someone unless you love them. That's kind of the rule." Naruto said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't exactly 'love'." Sasuke said looking up into the sky. "That emotion was wiped away a long time ago."

"Sasuke..." Naruto's voice faded off, surprised by Sasuke.

"I've learned that it is better not to go to that extent in a relationship, or you're more susceptible to get hurt." His voice trailed off as his face looked very distant and hard. Naruto stared at his best friend completely numb by his friend's complexity. Honestly, Sakura was the best thing that ever happened to Sasuke, and he was always happier when he was around her. Everyone could tell that he was happier though, they didn't exactly really know the real reason why.

"Sasuke are you scared…to fall in love?" Naruto whispered. Sasuke didn't respond but just kept his head facing the night sky. "Sasuke! You don't have to be scared! Sakura-chan would never hurt you! And you know that!"

"Che. I once thought of Itachi in that way." Sasuke retorted bitterly.

Naruto suddenly felt anger surge through his body, and he punched Sasuke in the stomach. Since it was so unexpected, Sasuke actually bent over and spat on the floor.

"What the fuck, is your problem!" He shouted angrily.

Naruto gritted his teeth, "Are you stupid? How can you compare Sakura-chan to your blood thirsty brother? Have you lost your mind? Or are you just being a _scaredy-cat_? You are just afraid that Sakura-chan would be taken away from you, and you'll feel like shit, just like how you felt when your family was taken away from you!"

Naruto threw the engagement ring back at him, and Sasuke caught it, still glaring at him angrily, but his words were seeping into his mind, and Sasuke didn't like the tone of them. "Fuck you Naruto, who the hell do you think you are?" Sasuke shoved him roughly, not enough to knock him down, but it was enough to make him take a few steps backwards.

"I _think_ I'm your friend. And I _think _you came here for my help because you know what I am saying is the truth. _You know it._ But you're just afraid to hear it." Naruto said sternly. "Sakura-chan will never leave you Sasuke, so you don't have to be afraid to committing a hundred percent of yourself into this relationship! You can propose to her tomorrow, and I promise she won't run off with some stranger, or go of killing your neighbor, and I can almost guarantee she's not going to die tomorrow by some freakishly rare disease. So you won't get hurt teme, and you won't _be_ lonely."

Sasuke stared down at the ground, licking his bottom lip that was now chill due to the air. What if Naruto was right? What if he really is just…afraid (_ugh_)…of getting hurt?

Hinata opened the door to the apartment and peaked through. "Oh, hello S-sasuke." She greeted looking nervously between the two. Sasuke nodded in response and stuck his hands in his pockets. Naruto walked over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek.

"Why are you out here Hinata-chan? You're going to catch a cold." Then to Sasuke he said, "Sasuke-teme! Gimme your jacket!"

Sasuke looked surprised, were they not just having an argument? "No, you loser. Wait, why?"

Naruto rolled his perfectly blue eyes, "Obviously, Hinata-chan is cold!"

Hinata blushed, "No, N-Naruto-kun! It's alright!"

"She doesn't even want it." Sasuke replied.

Naruto crossed his arms, "Oh, I see. So you're going to let my wife suffer from hypothermia. That's great seriously. Thanks. After all we've been through, you punching a whole through my stomach when we were twelve and everything… all I'm just asking-" Naruto was cut off, when the Uchiha tossed his favorite winter jacket at his face.

"Just shut up, and take it. You fucking loser." He put his hands in his pocket and walked off. Naruto smirked, and placed the jacket around his wife. Hinata's blush deepened.

"Naruto-kun! He didn't have to give it to me. I-I could have just gone inside." Naruto smiled in response and rubbed Hinata's dark raven locks.

"I know, Hinata." He watched his retreating friend, and smiled softly to himself. He knew Sasuke would learn to face his fear in due time, and find true happiness, just like he had. "I know."

* * *

Sasuke ran over to Sakura's house and didn't even bother with the front door, but leaped into her bedroom window swiftly and quietly so he wouldn't be detected by her neighbors or anyone else that happened to be about. He frowned for a second when he realized her window was unlocked perfect for Kabuto, or whoever, when they decided to bust threw it and kidnap her again. Seriously, does she not learn her lesson?

Sasuke made a mental note to lecture Sakura about this when he woke her up, but when he looked on her bed, she wasn't there. He ran downstairs and looked on the couch, expecting her to have fallen asleep there by accident, but she wasn't there either, and according to her pink clock hanging above her stove it was one o'clock in the morning.

Sasuke knew there was something wrong and cursed himself for not picking up on this earlier when she hadn't been at his place.

"May be she's at a friend's house…" Sasuke sat down on her sofa thinking, maybe he could just wait till the morning, and see if she'd arrive. But then thoughts about what happened that night when he was sleeping and how Kabuto managed to just sweep her away right under his freaking nose. Maybe this was another scenario just like that. "Shit!" Sasuke cursed out loud as he ran outside.

* * *

Naruto crept slowly into his bed, where Hinata had already fallen asleep. He yawned, finally Kaori had fallen asleep, and the two of them were finally at peace. He rested his head against his amazingly soft pillow (a gift from Neji), and closed his eyes waiting for slumber to approach him, until he heard loud banging at his door … _again._

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered drowsily. "Please answer the door, before the baby wakes up."

Naruto grumbled something incoherently, but did as he was told and headed for the door for the second time that night. And not to his great surprise, it was Sasuke.

"Are you back for your jacket, 'cause I thought we had this silent agreement that I'd give it to you in the morning!" Naruto snapped, but Sasuke brushed by him, as if he didn't even hear him.

"Sakura's gone!" He yelled. Naruto threw his palm over his mouth and hissed at him.

"Are you crazy, you're going to wake Kaori." He whispered.

Sasuke shoved the hand away from him, "Do you think I care about a fucking baby? Sakura's not at her house, or my house. So I need you to check Kakashi's, Ino's, and Tsunade."

Naruto stared blankly at him. "I'm sure she's fine! You're just over reacting. They got ninjas surrounding this whole village on high alert if that glasses wearing freak, or your snake master appear again. I don't think searching this town is necessary and you know how she hates when you get all protective on her."

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm, "I don't have time to wait till morning to see if she's okay! I gave_ my_ jacket to your wife, and carried her to the fucking delivery room when she was in labor because _your_ dumb ass was on a mission. You fucking owe me!"

Naruto pried himself out of Sasuke's grip. "Okay, deal I'll go look for her." He grabbed Sasuke's jacket of the coat rack and wore it. "No need to get all snappy with me…" He muttered as he closed the door.

Sasuke cracked his knuckles as he sat of their sofa and placed his head in his hands. Now all he had to do is wait.

* * *

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his seat, when he heard Naruto open the door, but the look on Naruto's face wasn't his usual cheerfully happy one, but it looked forlorn. And Sasuke knew the answer before he even opened his mouth.

"Dude, I'm sorry." Naruto said rubbing his hands threw his hair. "I checked everywhere and woke up everyone she's close to. I even checked the library to see if she collapsed from learning too hard again, and that bench that she likes to go to and think, but she wasn't there. But Tsunade wasn't home either. And when I went to eat ramen on my way back, the old man there told me that he saw the old hag and Sakura-chan just before closing time."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, "So you're saying that she's probably with Tsunade."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, your best bet is to just go home and wait for her to come home."

* * *

Sakura slowly walked her way back home after a tedious day. She knew it was late, and she knew that Sasuke had probably already gone off the deep end worrying about her, but right now she just couldn't think about him. Especially how he was going to react when he found out she was … pregnant. If she was pregnant with his child, and though they were only seventeen, she would be excited. Sasuke would make an amazing father, and it would be great to start a family with him.

But through lab tests, x-rays, and everything else that was medically helpful right now, she knew exactly who the father was, and it was not him.

Sakura felt hot tears fall down her face for the thousandth time that day. What was she going to do? Give birth to a freak of nature, whose father was the biggest ass in the world, and thought it was a flipping great idea to inject their freaking chromosomes, DNA and everything else that makes it possible to create a living being inside of her?

Tsunade came to the conclusion that the father wanted their genes to continue in this world, and the only way it could grow up in a nurturing environment for it to develop and become stronger, is in Konoha.

And the only person that this man knew, would not _have _the heart to kill this innocent baby… is Sakura Haruno.

Of course instantly Tsunade had offered the idea of abortion ,but Sakura couldn't bring herself do it. She couldn't kill that baby inside of her. Because it wasn't fair to the him…or her.

Sakura's tears came more, and she attempted to wipe her eyes, but it was no use. The wiping, the crying, the tears… nothing could erase this moment for her, nothing could erase this baby. Nothing.

She walked up to her house and opened the door, which she rarely locked, and when she stepped in and flipped the switch closest to her, she saw Sasuke sitting right there facing her.

"S-S-Sasuke-kun!" She shouted jumping nearly a foot in the air. Her hand flew over her chest in attempt to cover her panic attack.

"Where have you been?" He demanded in a very cold tone.

Sakura just sighed, ignoring his question and dropping her keys on the kitchen counter. She looked up at her clock and it read 3:06. "How long have you been here?" She asked guardedly.

"Long enough."

Sakura heard movements behind her and definitely knew that Sasuke was coming closer to her. And she knew that she was supposed to tell him about the pregnancy…she knew it…but how would he react?

Sakura turned around to face him, and noticed that Sasuke had crossed the room and was now standing two feet in front of her.

"So where were you?" He demanded again staring hard at her.

Sakura avoided his glare. "Um I was at the library studying…"

Sasuke's eyes hardened he lifted her chin with his finger so she would look him in the eye. "Why are you lying?" But then his eyes widened when he noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. Her face was blotchy on her pale skin. He instantly felt his anger vanish. "Have you been crying?" Sakura didn't answer though, but kept her head down.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Sasuke gently shook her, but instead of her responding, she started crying. And it wasn't like normal everyday Sakura tears, but they were full out sobs that shook her tiny frame. Her knees gave out as she collapsed on the floor in only what Sasuke could explain as hysteria.

"Sakura?" He called out nervously, as he knelt down beside her. "Did someone hurt you?"

But she lamely shook her head, like it was the only thing she could do, as her body shook severely. Sasuke honestly, had no idea what to do but to just wrap his arms around her till she calmed down. And so that's what he did. He held her.

"S-S-S-S-Sasuke-k-k-unn…" She stuttered her hysterics still not under control. Sasuke loosened his hold on her so he could look her in the face, questionably.

"I-I-I l-love y-you…and I-I-I will always love you, no m-matter what." She whimpered barely audible.

* * *

"_**Sasuke are you scared…to fall in love?"**_

_**

* * *

**_

Sasuke stared into her murky greenish eyes and felt something stir inside of him, and could feel a certain three words at the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed those words and pushed aside that feeling.

"I know you do," he replied, and though he felt bad for not saying the words that he knew she wanted to hear, she just nodded and laid her against his chest.

And he sat on that cold kitchen floor the rest of the night with her trembling reducing, but the tears still flowed down her face.

* * *

Sakura awoke that morning to the blinding sun coming through the window and her ass stiff from sitting on the cold hard kitchen floor. She looked up and saw Sasuke's head bent over her own, his bangs falling forward. His arms were limp, but still wrapped around her waist, as his back was leaned against the counter.

Sakura reached over to him, and brushed his hair out of his face, so surprised to see his face so serene and peaceful when he's sleeping. She completely adored him this way, and she was sure many girls would as well. He reminded her of his twelve year old self when he was asleep, and how she used to gaze at him when he would fall asleep, and think how amazing it would be to wake up to that face every morning.

Unless he was having a dream about Itachi, and when he was, that's when his face looks strangled, as if he is being choked. And that was face that could actually terrorize you in the morning.

But those were on rare occasions, and she really treasured the days when she could gaze at him, just like she was twelve years old, and not seventeen with a barely two week old baby inside of her.

She caressed his hard, callused palm with her gentle one for some time, until he stirred.

"Hi." Sakura smiled beautifully, as Sasuke awkwardly tried to stretch his back as he mumbled something under his breath.

"Aa." Sasuke looked over at her, and noticed that she looked sane this morning, "You seem better."

Sakura nodded and unconsciously rubbed her belly. "I feel …better." Sakura stood up and Sasuke followed suit, stretching as he got up.

"Would you like to tell me what caused all that last night?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded her hand still on her belly, "I have to tell you something."

Sasuke crossed his arms, waiting. Sakura swallowed, and picked anything to keep her eyes on, anything but Sasuke, so she wouldn't chicken out on this.

"I know you have a month long mission tomorrow, and I just wanted to tell you before you left. Sasuke-kun, I am -"

But then suddenly the door to her apartment rudely just opened, and Kakashi walked in with a politely happy look on his face.

"Yo! Just came to say Happy Valentine's Day!" He greeted, but then his happy look turned into a deadly one when he noticed the Uchiha, who looked like he just woke up, in Sakura's kitchen. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Sasuke frowned, how annoying could this guy be? "Well, I didn't see a 'No-Uchiha' sign on her door."

Kakashi crossed his arms in defense, "Remind me to get her one of those."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but looked back at Sakura that wasn't even following the conversation, but looked a bit nauseous.

"Hey, are you-"

But Sakura quickly shoved Sasuke to the side, since he was standing in front of the sink, and she vomited inside of it. Sasuke quickly, using his ninja reflexes, held back her hair so she wouldn't get crap on it, but Kakashi suddenly appeared and smacked his hand out of the way, and replaced them with his own.

"Let me." Kakashi said with some assertiveness.

Sasuke growled, but figured that this was not something he needed to argue about, _he must learn to pick and choose his battles_, as Sakura would always tell him. Sakura finally finished lifting her head up from the sink and looked apologetically at Sasuke, and thankfully at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, why are you here?" She asked wiping the mouth with back of her hand.

Kakashi's smile returned, "Well it _is_ Valentine's Day, and I thought I'd take you out for breakfast but I see you have company, and that you look a little sick."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, who was now looking at a spot on the floor, obviously uncomfortable with Kakashi in his presence.

"Oh, I'm fine, must've been something I ate last night." She said shaking it off, even though she really knew it was morning sickness. "And I'm booked for the day, I already have a date." Sasuke looked at her a bit shocked, was she really going to tell Kakashi that she was dating him? Had she lost her mind? Kakashi would literally explode, or something relatively close to that.

"Really?" Kakashi said a bit taken back, looking cautiously at Sasuke. "Who is this _date_?"

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but then the door opened again (she really must learn to lock it) and a green jumpsuit appeared.

"**I AM!**!" Lee screamed holding a bouquet of flowers. "SAKURA-CHAN! IT IS THE DAY OF LOVE. THE DAY THE GODS DECIDED WE SHOULD BE UNITED! THE DAY YOU WILL BE AT MERCY AS I SHOWER YOU WITH EXPENSIVE UNNECISSARY GIFTS!" He ran up to her and gave her the bouquet and kissed her on the cheek.

Sasuke twitched; clearly annoyed, but no other word could some up what a shitty day this 'V-day' was turning out to be. And this is the day that he was supposed to propose! No other word can sum up the way he felt than his favorite four letter word, "Fuck."

* * *

"Oh, Sasuke! Please don't curse in my presence! It does not flow well with the mood of LOVE!"

* * *

**HAHA! It's like a double feature! Lol I finished this chapter! Haha I have promised myself I would finish this story if it's the last thing I DO! Lol review, review, it makes me happy! Hahah btw. Who do you think the babies for? Kabuto, or Orochimaru…or can it be… it is for Kaori? O_O**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer I do not own Naruto

Chapter Eleven.

FLASHBACK…

* * *

_**"…it's good to have you back, teme." He could tell that he startled Sasuke, because he hesitated a moment longer then he would've.**_

_**"No one said I was staying...dobe," and then he left. Naruto sat there a moment longer a smile forming on his face.**_

.

.

Sasuke hesitated slightly once he reached the room he was headed for. '_Room 289…'_ he thought to himself. Sakura's room.

He knew he shouldn't be here, heck, he shouldn't even be allowed to come into a range of 100 feet to the pink haired girl, but he felt obliged to. It's not that he felt bad, heck no. He never regretted anything he does, or did _ever_.

But there was something dooming over him, something pulling him, captivating him back to this girl. He unconsciously rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, where his cursed mark was. It didn't burn, nor did he notice any marks appearing on his arm, like they tend to do without him even noticing now a days. ..but he still rubbed it. Confused.

What was he going to do now? Escape the village…again? Run back to Orochimaru's little paws, or re-establish his relationship with his most recent teammates he just abandoned? How was he going to fall back onto the path that led to him defeating his brother now that he was most clearly not on that path anymore?

"Fuck." Sasuke cursed out loud slightly frustrated, and though he was still kind of dizzy with all the drugs that the nurse had pumped inside of him, he could clearly sense that maybe, just maybe, the answers to all his questions will be known, once he opened the door to room 289. He didn't know what to expect…if Sakura would be beaten to the point where she's unrecognizable, or she would have a few scratches here and there, because to be frank, he couldn't really remember.

The catch about his new curse mark is that it triggers when the holder is weakened by emotions. It's a great bonus for Sasuke, since that deems to be his biggest problem, his emotions. But, by getting rid of those emotions, it causes a moment of memory loss. And if the curse mark is activated for a long period of time, there can be great blanks in Sasuke's memory. And one of those great blanks was what he did to Sakura.

Though he could remember parts, like her screams and the blood… they were blurred. Like opening your eyes underwater, it wasn't clear.

So, Sasuke opened the door and slowly stepped in, dimly recalling Kakashi claiming that he was going to be in Sakura's room while Naruto spoke to him, but noticed he wasn't there.

He also noticed that Sakura's room was far warmer than his petit, blank wall papered room that had one window. Sakura's had three, and the walls were a soft shade of pink that reminded him of her hair. As well, there were gifts that covered the majority of the floor, from chocolate (which boldly had Lee's handwriting all over it) to balloons and cards. Sasuke picked up a card that was signed by Shikamaru, '_When was she ever close to him…?' _

But, placed it down without a second thought. Sakura was loved greatly by the villagers of Konoha, even when they were younger, but that love and admiration had grown massively over the years quite obviously, and it left Sasuke a bit surprised.

Sasuke's eyes slowly casted over to what he originally had come here to see, and saw a limp figure with its back facing him, tucked under the bed sheets. Sasuke walked slowly and carefully over towards her and pushed her soft pink hair to the side and struggled to catch his breath when he noticed what he had done.

Her face was completely covered in plasters, and when he used his finger to remove when he saw a deep gash down the side of her face that could only be made by a shuriken. Her lips were puffy and bruised, along with her eyes. Her nose was broken as well as her cheek bone. Sasuke's hands started to shake, as he tried to close his eyes and remember anything, something before Kakashi had came to Sakura's rescue a few days ago and snapped him out of his trance when he had blasted a hole through him.

_**"Kakashi-sensei! P-please don't k-kill him…"**_

Those were the last words he remembered her saying before blanking out due to intense pain, and if anything those were the clearest words he had ever heard her say, considering his condition at that time.

Sasuke quickly removed the bed sheets that were covering Sakura's unconscious body and it revealed more bandages that were visible on her arms and legs. Those covered a one broken arm, but two broken wrists, and her left leg was twisted in the wrong direction while her right leg was suffering from third degree burns.

Sasuke's breath quickened as he raised just a bit of her hospital gown to reveal the part of her upper thigh that wasn't covered in bandages but they were clearly imprinted with blue like hand prints.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, just hoping and praying that he wouldn't touch her that personally, and maybe those handprints belonged to Suigetsu or even Juugo, but to test it out, he placed his hand over a handprint on her thigh and his hand covered it perfectly. There was no denying it. He had done _this_ to _her_.

The only person that actually liked him regardless of how demonic he became. The first person that he, Sasuke Uchiha, had opened up to back when he was twelve. The person that was by his side when Orochimaru first attacked him and gave him that cursed mark, and risked her life just to protect him. And she risked her life for him again, when he was immobilized by that same mark and she stood in front of freaking demon to protect him.

That person he had _sworn_ to himself that he would never harm, because she was too weak and too pathetic to even be poked. She was the light of team seven, and held him and Naruto together when things were tough. And kept a smile on Naruto's face and even a tiny miniscule smile on his face.

That same person, Sakura Haruno, he not only laid a hand upon, but nearly_ killed_ her.

And he couldn't handle that.

He backed away from her lifeless body, and suddenly the room became too small for him with all the ridiculous gifts from people that actually cared about her.

The walls started to feel as if they were closing in on him, as realization hit him.

This is why Kakashi was so beyond angry with him earlier today, way angrier then he has ever seen him no matter how many times he had crossed the line.

It also explained why Naruto was so nervous when he was speaking to him.

And it clearly explained why, though he had billions of fan girls, and tons of admirers in this town, no one had left him a gift in his room. No one. Not even a card.

Because this time he had crossed that invisible line, that no one believed he would have dared to even venture towards no matter how evil he gets.

Oh, yeah. Sure scream and threaten and even attack Naruto all he wants, no big deal, that's expected.

Kill off important shinobi of this village, and even some leaders, of course …that's expected.

But to harm…or even touch Sakura? Hell no.

Sasuke Uchiha would never do that.

.

.

_He_

_._

_._

"_**Hi! Sasuke-kun! I love your hair!"**_

_Would_

_._

_._

"_**Oh my gosh! Did you see that Sasuke-kun?"**_

_**Never**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"_**It's sure is beautiful today isn't it…would you like to go on a date? Hmmm, Sasuke-kun?"**_

He noticed the cursed mark reappeared itself onto his arm sensing his distress, and he now noticed how dangerous he is. He can't be amongst Naruto or Sakura anymore. He chose not to take that path for this exact reason, and so he had to leave. Even though he had no idea where his original avenger clothes were at that moment, he didn't care, and in the hospital's plain gray pants, and big loose navy shirt, he quickly scampered over to the window and opened it, ready for his great escape.

"So you're just going to leave?"

Sasuke froze.

"Huh…Sasuke-kun?"

He slowly turned his head around, and noticed though Sakura's body was still limp her emerald eye's were wide open, slightly hazy from the painkillers he assumed, but were dangerously focusing themselves onto him.

Sasuke's mouth tasted bitter. "I don't see how that concerns you, Haruno."

Sakura blinked, "I see. I'm on last name bases with you now."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but faced her, his arms crossed. Not forgetting the opened window, he just…okay he doesn't know what he was doing, but he wanted to hear her out. It had been so long since he's heard her voice.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but started to cough, and those coughs shook her entire small frame, but Sasuke remained where he was though the sounds of the coughing churned something inside of him, but he remained a stoic face.

"I-I can see clearly you don't want to be here."

"…"

"And, I know that I can't physically stop you…not then, or now."

"…"

"But, I want you to know that I _do_ want you to stay."

"You're stupid." Sasuke spat.

"Wait…what?" Sakura blinked completely confused. That's not how she expected him to respond.

"Fuck Sakura, take freaking look at yourself. I did that to you, no one else."

"Sasuke-kun-" Sakura started, but Sasuke interrupted.

"I've told you once; I am not like you or Naruto. I've chosen a different path, and I am different. I am no longer someone you can relate to. I am no longer the Sasuke Uchiha you _knew_." Harshly, Sasuke said the last words, hoping that they would get threw her head so that she could move on with her life, and stop pawning over him. They wouldn't happen, and couldn't happen.

He has to focus on his goal.

Killing Itachi.

Not killing pink haired teammates.

But Sakura shook her head flaccidly in protest, "You still are that Sasuke-kun that I knew!"

"Fuck Sakura…" Sasuke started but a lump in his throat suddenly appeared, and he looked away from her disguising his feelings. The cursed mark grew again covering his entire right arm and he felt her eye's look at it in fear.

"Look, Sasuke-kun…when we were in the forest…" She started slowly, Sasuke still didn't look at her in the face, but was made it known that he was listening. "…you said something."

She paused, waiting for Sasuke to respond, but he didn't so she continued.

"You said that you didn't want to live your life along .You told me that you wouldn't kill me, because I'm one of the only things in your life that actually gives you a reason to live after you kill Itachi."

"I don't remember saying that."

"Well, you did." Sakura smiled, sadly. "You said that you'd let me live only if I promised you that if you killed Itachi, I would wait for you afterwards."

Sasuke flinched, his cursed mark eclipsing over his face.

"And I promised you that I would. Do you know why?"

Sasuke hesitated but then responded, "Because you're too dumb to realize when someone is clearly intoxicated with power to not know what they're saying?"

Sakura smiled softly, "No. Because I love you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head back so they would face the ceiling. "You shouldn't carry those feelings for me."

"I know, but I still do, and I _can_ wait till you defeat Itachi. I will never turn my back on you."

Sasuke felt that lump in his throat increase, and for the second time that day he felt tears well up in his eyes, but fought them back. There was no way he was going to let Sakura see that side of him. So he remained in the same position with his head tilted back, and he clenched his jaw.

"You're annoying." He said hoarsely. He quickly glanced down at her and noticed that she was slowly falling back asleep, with her eye's half lidded but they were still staring at him, and he shuffled his way over to her. He knelt down in front of her, his curse mark fiercely beating, as he brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "You have to be the most annoying person on this Earth, Sakura Haruno."

Sakura yawned, but smiled sweetly, "I know. But it won't stop me from waiting for you. So you can go." She used the last bit of her strength so lift her head up, and used her bruised lips to brush a quick kiss against his cheek, as she lay back on the bed.

Sasuke's heart quickened at the contact, though it was a small, he had felt that all the way down to his fingertips, and it didn't help the throbbing from the curse mark.

And suddenly it hit him… who gives a shit.

Who gives a flying shit, whether he defeats Itachi now, or next year, or whenever. Just as long as he does it right?

And who gives a shit what his teammates would do without him guiding them, he's not their freaking babysitter.

And who gives a freaking shit about Orochimaru?

No one.

"Go to sleep." Sasuke murmured to her as he stood up, watching her as she watched him with careful, but sleepy eyes. "I'll see you in the morning."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprised, but they relaxed in a quick second, as she nodded slowly closing her eyes. Right then Sasuke realized that he wouldn't leave the village until he's paid her back, for every bone broken in her body, and every single drop of blood he shed from her. For every tear she's ever cried for him, and for every plea. He could now accept that Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzuamki, were his_ friends_. And friends are not bonds that are meant to be broken.

He walked back over to the window and closed it, not wanting Sakura to get cold, and was about to head out the door, when Kakashi opened it with a glass of orange juice in his hand.

"Sasuke?" He said startled, the glass dropping to the floor, and shattering. Sasuke snorted. Seriously, just his luck. Sakura opened her eyes, for she wasn't deeply asleep yet, and faced the two of them.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura, save your breath. I'll deal with him." Kakashi demanded, his visible eye narrowing.

Sasuke attempted to walk past him, not even caring, "I didn't do anything to her, so don't get ahead of yourself." He claimed.

But Kakashi wasn't falling for it, "So why has the cursed mark released itself? Hm, Sasuke?" But before Sasuke could even respond, Kakashi had done quick hand signals, that without his Sharigan on he had totally missed, and Kakashi's specialized guard dogs were in the room taking up the space, and destroying half of Sakura's gifts.

"Kakashi-sensi! Stop it!" Sakura screamed from the bed, completely useless with all her injuries that rendered her immobile. Kakashi ignored her though, as he ordered the dogs to pin Sasuke down, and they did. Sasuke who had no energy nor chakra, fell to the ground his head hitting the hard wood floor.

"Damn." He spat struggling against the strength of a big bull dog that sat on top of him gnarling his bare teeth towards him. Suddenly the dogs were replaced with masked anbu that flipped Sasuke over onto his stomach and pinned his arms behind his back.

"What are you doing out of your room, Uchiha?" One of them demanded, heeling his foot on top of Sasuke's head. Sasuke said nothing though, but just barred his teeth. What could he say?

"Guys! STOP IT!" Sakura shouted from her bed tears in her eyes. "Really, stop it! He didn't do anything to me!"

Kakashi snorted, signaling the anbu to pick Sasuke up, and they did, grabbing his hair harshly with their hands rooted deep into his hair, while another anbu continued to hold his hands behind his back. "Yet. Sakura, yet. This boy is dangerous now, and you have to understand that."

"No he isn't, Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke-kun-"

"Save it." Sasuke cut in. Sakura closed her mouth, tears still falling from her eyes, as she watched Sasuke's curse mark retreat back to its original spot on his neck. Sasuke shook his head at her, signaling to her that he was fine, and grunted, when the anbu shoved him out of her room. The door was closed with loud slam, and Kakashi stood there with his arms crossed.

"You can't trust everyone, like you think you can Sakura."

Sakura disagreed however, "I know that, Kakashi-sensei, I'm still a ninja after all. But, Sasuke-kun he's-he's…"

"An avenger." Kakashi continued. "He's full of hate, and nothing can stop him from his lust to kill Itachi, no you or Naruto. I doubt that when he even completes that goal, he would he even come back to Konoha. I don't want you or Naruto hurt over this fake fantasy you guys have created from a boy you once knew. Alright?"

Sakura, who was way too tired to argue with all the points he just said, just nodded and closed her eyes, when Kakashi came to give her a peck on the forehead, and he tousled her hair. He just wanted the best for her. And the best thing for her was definitely not Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

**WHEW. It's like a filler chapter! Haha I totally had forgotten that I had not filled you guys in, on their history. Duh. I'm such a ditz! Haha! Soo yeah next chapter would go back to where we were before with the hole pregnancy and Valentines Day gimmick! Let me know what you think, so REVIEW! Oh and ignore the grammar…I can't proof read! **


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

_Chapter Twelve_

_

* * *

_

"_Hey! Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke turned around and saw his __**new**__ friend running up to him. He'd just been released out off mandatory confinement, since Konoha apparently thought he was mental. She also just got released thanks to Tsunade's crazy commitment to heal her quickly. She still had to use crutches for her legs that hadn't really healed yet, and had an oddly appealing little nose brace. _

_Sasuke nodded in response and stuck his hands in his pockets. It was another annoyingly bright day in Konoha. Sakura hobbled over to Sasuke and smiled at him endearingly. Sasuke grunted at the bright look on her face, and kept walking, slow enough for Sakura to keep in pace though. _

"_Someone's in a bad mood," Sakura observed nudging him jokingly with her left crutch. Sasuke looked down at her, since she was a whole head shorter than him, and replied. _

"_This village is full of idiots." _

_Sakura laughed, "And why do you say that?"_

_Sasuke stopped and placed his hand on her head and gently twisted it, so her head turned to the right. There she could see clearly a bunch of villagers staring at them with different expressions. Some shocked, some angry, and some were just plain confused. _

"_I don't-" Sakura started to say, but Sasuke interrupted. _

"_They're staring at us."_

"_So?"_

"_**So?**__ Sakura, I fucking nearly destroyed you about a month ago. Don't you find that abnormal?"_

"_Not really."_

_Sasuke stared at her a moment longer, seriously wondering if maybe he hit her harder in the head than he thought. "I don't understand you." He admitted. _

_Sakura laughed again, "That's because you went alias for a few years remember? People change." _

"_Aa, is that so?"_

"_Yup. But don't worry, Sasuke-kun we've got some time, and maybe during that time you'll understand me."_

_Sasuke shrugged in response, but the two continued walking and then it hit Sasuke. _

"_Sakura, where were you heading towards anyway? Are you not supposed to be walking around that much?"_

"_Oh, I'm going to Ino's shop."_

_Sasuke blinked, "That's on the other side of the village."_

_Sakura nodded, "Yeah, but I want to get some exercise in so what my leg heals I'll be all fit for missions, again!"_

"_At this rate you'll get to Ino's in four hours."_

_Sakura pumped her fist in the air. "I know! I'm totally inspired to get there!" She giggled afterwards, but her laughter was short-lived when she saw the look Sasuke was giving her. It was a cross between anger and disgust. _

_Sasuke frown deepened, but then exhaled a deep breath and knelt down on the ground. Sakura looked at him. _

"_What?"_

"_Just get on my fucking back." _

"_But…Sasuke-kun…"_

"_Shut up. And do as I say." _

_Sakura quickly decided not to argue against it, and handed her crutches over to Sasuke and climbed on top of his back. The now forming spectators around them suddenly grew from just two people to about twenty, and they all gasped._

"_Oh, no!"_

"_What is she doing?"_

"_What is __**he**__ doing?"_

"_He's going to sprout wings and fly away, isn't he!"_

"_Sasuke-kun, they're talking again…" Sakura whimpered, burrowing her face in his back. Her face flushed. She can't lie, though she totally was up for the whole Sasuke and her being friends movement, she still loved him deeply. She secretly had drawn Sasuke's head on her pancakes with syrup this morning._

"_**So**__?" Sasuke mimicked, smirking smugly. "I thought you said you didn't care."_

"_I __**don't**__ care!"_

"_Good."_

"_Fine!"_

Sasuke lighted the last candle and stepped back to appreciate his work. For one night, and one night only, Sasuke Uchiha was stepping out of his I-hate-showing-affection box. Besides, tonight was a special night, the night he planned to propose to Sakura Haruno. Sasuke felt goose bumps start to rise on his skin. In fact, to his realization, by tomorrow morning she would be Sakura _Uchiha._ To him it all seemed so absurd how he got to this path. Just a year ago he'd been so obsessed with killing Itachi, that planning for it, no wait, even just imagining about that day made him estatic. But, now, happiness came in a form of a pink haired girl.

But, she was the one person he could say he trusted 100 percent. Sasuke adjusted the flowers like he had OCD. Sakura had been dragged around town by Lee, all day until he had baby duty with Naruto's child. Apparently, that was their ritual, no matter whom Sakura was dating secretly. It didn't really bother him, though he wasn't an egomaniac, he was quite sure that Lee was far down below his standards, so low he wasn't even considered a threat.

So he pulled one of the mahogany chairs, which he just bought for this occasion, and placed his face in his palm, doing his famous Sasuke pose. Now, he just had to wait.

Sakura opened the door to her house, not even bothering to turn the lights on. She flopped down on her couch, face first. Lee had completely wiped her out this year. Taking her to more places than he did last Valentine's Day.

* * *

"_**Sakura-chan! Let's go feed the camels at the zoo!" Lee exclaimed.**_

"_**LEE! There are no camels in Kohona zoo!"**_

"_**Did I say Konoha zoo? No way, we are going to the SAND VILLAGE!"**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"Sakura."

Sakura's head popped up from the couch and for the first time she noticed, Sasuke sitting at a table made for two in her kitchen, where there used to be a dishwasher and a fridge. The table was covered with a red table cloth and in the middle two wine glasses. There was a giant center piece made with twelve white roses and one red fake rose. There was a diamond chandelier that hung from the ceiling that was not there before (trust, she would have noticed it).

And of course, two tall candles made from red wax that gave off a sweet aroma. Sasuke sat there staring deeply at her, his arms crossed but with a small smirk, and he looked kind of…nervous? Does Sasuke do nervous?

"Uh-hi, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said slowly, getting up from the couch, slightly disturbed.

"Are you hungry?"

Sakura was going to say no and skip dinner, but then realized she was now eating for _two._

"S-sure, Sasuke-kun." She walked cautiously over to the chair and sat down. Lifting up the cover and it revealed exquisite caviar. "Oh my!" She shouted. Sasuke smirked.

"Do you like it?"

Sakura placed the cover over the plate. She crossed her arms and stared at him intently. "What is this?"

Sasuke looked slightly startled, "It's called caviar. Fish eggs."

"No! Not the fish eggs, _**this**_!" Sakura exclaimed waving her hands about. "What's with the decorations?"

"It _is_ the day of Valentines," Sasuke simply said starting to eat his caviar. "If you don't like it-"

Sakura felt taken aback when Sasuke mention the last part, his voice almost sounding as if he was hurt. "No! I-I just don't want seafood right now!" Sakura rushed the last part about to take a drink, but then realized it was alcohol, and she couldn't have that either. All pregnant women know very well to avoid seafood and alcohol, or it can have negative effect on the baby.

"Okay…so what do you want?"

Sakura paused, and started to feel guilty. She was keeping this huge secret from the man of her dreams, and he was here setting up a beautiful dinner that any girl on this planet would have died for.

"Sasuke-kun, I have to tell you something." Sakura looked up at him, feeling tears in her eyes, but she had to tell him. She had to. If she didn't tell him today, tomorrow he'd be gone on a mission for roughly a month, and then what was she going to do? By the time he'd get back she'd have a freaking baby bump, and it would be way more difficult to tell him then.

But Sasuke held his palm out first, "No. I have to ask you something first." She saw him reach his hands in his pockets. "Sakura I got something to ask you."

"Um, okay? What is it?" Sakura asked completely oblivious to what he had up his sleeves. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, staring at her intently. She couldn't figure out exactly why but he was acting quite weird.

He awkwardly cleared his throat, "Sakura."

"…?"

"I have a preposition for you."

"Okay…" Sakura said cautiously. She honestly had no idea where he was going with this. Sasuke took his hand out of his pockets, and was holding a velvet case. Sakura felt her heart jump in her chest. "Oh my-S-Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke didn't waver though, and he opened the case revealing a breathtaking ring, "Marry me."

Sakura's eyes opened and suddenly felt numb. She opened her mouth, but it was dry and without a sound. Sasuke didn't notice her discomfort and grabbed her hand gently, pressing the ring across her finger.

Sakura remained muted, as she pulled her hand away from his grasp, and admired the ring. It truly was beautiful, but she couldn't accept it, she just couldn't.

Sasuke looked at her expectedly, "If you didn't know, you're supposed to say 'yes' at this part." He said sarcastically, doing his adorable half smirk thing, which made butterflies flutter around in her stomach every time.

She finally could feel tears dropping from her face. This would have been a perfect moment, a fairytale ending, but it wasn't…because at the end of those fairytale stories we all love to hear, the princess never gets pregnant by the evil villain. It just doesn't happen.

"Sasuke-k-kun…" Sakura whimpered removing the ring from her finger and placed it on the table. Sasuke stared at her completely dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. The last time he checked, Sakura was completely infatuated with him. But, Sakura remained silent as more tears fell from her eyes.

"S-Sasuke-kun…I have to tell you something…" She attempted to smile through her tears, but ended up looking like a deranged doll.

Sasuke crossed his arms, "Does it have something to do with you r_efusing_ to marry me?" He felt his anger rise when she nodded her head. He had every right to be angry in his mind, who denies Sasuke Uchiha their hand in marriage? "Fuck, Sakura just say whatever you have to say."

Sakura took in a shaky breath, and rubbed her belly, as if she was caressing it. She gently blew out the candle that Sasuke had lit, so only the sparkly light emitting from the chandelier stood between them. "Sasuke-kun, I'm-"

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"_How many stars do you think they are?" Sakura whispered laying her head on Sasuke's chest. _

"_I don't know." Sasuke said softly into her head. "I've never thought about it." They lay on the roof top of his apartment. It was after midnight, and by then Konoha had died out, with everyone to their respected houses to sleep, leaving the night peaceful. Instead of the two of them falling asleep in each other's arms on his bed, Sakura had suggested that they come on the roof._

_Which of course Sasuke thought was the most absurd thing he's ever heard of. _

_But at this moment everything just seemed perfect. _

"_I love how some twinkle. And others flicker. It's amazing." _

"…"

"_Like, it makes you think how small we are in this universe." _

"…"

"_Don't you think so, Sasuke-kun?" She raised her head and looked him straight in his obsidian eyes. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her._

"_No, I don't think like that." _

_Sakura rolled her eyes and sat up adjusting the sleeves on her black sweater and pulled her knees up so she could rest her head on them, as she continued to gaze at Sasuke._

"_So how do you think?" She loved unraveling the covers that made Sasuke…well Sasuke. "What intrigues your massive Uchiha brain?"_

_Sasuke thought for a moment or two, you know, because his brain is just so massive, and came up with a simple answer. "Nothing."_

"_What?" _

"_Nothing intrigues me in this world. Everything is just laid out in black and white." _

_Sakura pouted. "You're so boring. Who says stuff like that?" She stretched her arms over head, and stood up throwing her arms out. "Life is so amazing, everyday holds something different!"_

"_Not necessarily, except for those rare occasions, anyone can predict what's going to happen the next day."_

"_So nothing surprises you, or catches your attention?"_

"_Nothing," Sasuke smirked at her surprised expression. But, then she cradled herself when a soft breeze blew by in the night, creating goose bumps on her bare legs. So she sat back down, and assumed her favorite position, her head right over his heart. "…nothing." He repeated stroking her hair. He could of predicted that she would come back to lie with him, but you know, he didn't want to brag. _

"_Nothing." She muttered softly caressing his chest with her small fingers. _

"…"

"…"

_And suddenly he could hear her soft breathing on his chest, and he lifted some of her pink locks to see her eyes had closed. He smiled softly and lay back observing the stars. Abruptly, a shooting star shot across the sky, leaving a gentle soft pink trail that disappeared as quickly as it came. It caught his breath and he felt Sakura shift gently underneath him. _

_Sasuke waited for her to remain still, and once he heard her falling back into a steady sleep, he stared back at the sky, slightly disbelieving what he just saw and almost concluded to himself that it was just a figment of his imagination. Stars don't leave pink trails in the sky. It's unheard off. _

_Sasuke almost laughed out loud in spite of himself. Seriously, pretty soon he's going to start thinking that he could find unicorns in a candy mountain. All because of one girl, that seemed to catch his interest._

_And then it hit him, "She's the only exception…"_

_._

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"HEY GUYS!" Naruto shouted bursting through Sakura's door. Sakura jumped, startled, while Sasuke turned to face him, clearly not in his best mood. "Whoa, why is it so dark in here? Were you guys being _dirrttty_?" Naruto grinned, lifting his finger, but Sasuke gave him a dead panned glare, that stunned him.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke spat.

Naruto threw his hands up in defense, walking towards the two, they were quite a picture, Sakura was in tears, while Sasuke looked pissed, and _the _ring was sitting in the middle of table, untouched. "Uh, I just came to see what's up? Kaori became too much of a handle for Lee, so Hinata went to pick him up. And I wanted to check and see what's up with my best friends! Jeez, kill a guy for that!" Naruto shouted the last part jokingly, but no one responded.

Obviously the mood in this household wasn't as bright as it could have been.

"N-Naruto…we're having sort of a dilemma right now." Sakura explained wiping her eyes. Again she had been interrupted when she finally had the nerve to tell Sasuke what the problem was.

"A dilemma on Valentine's Day?" Naruto said patting her on the shoulder attempting add comfort, "Sakura-chan, where's your holiday spirit?" Sasuke snorted at the last bit, and grabbed the ring and stuck it back in the case. Naruto looked at him nervously. _That_ cannot be good.

"What about we go get a drink! It can be a Team Seven gathering!" Naruto cheered, trying to heal the awkwardness in the room, but obviously it was not going away any time soon. Sasuke stared at Sakura who avoided his glance, and sighed loudly while standing up.

"Whatever, let's go Naruto." Sasuke walked over to the door, grabbing his coat off the sofa on the way out.

"Wait!" Naruto called out. He turned to Sakura, his hand in front of him just for Sakura to hold it. "Come on! We're going to your favorite bar, _Gettin' Over. _Tons of drinking, just to ease all those troubles away, and everything will be fine in the morning!"

Sakura shook her head, "N-no, I can't do that."

Naruto withdrew his hand, "Of course you can! You got to let loose once in a while, Sakura-chan."

"N-no, you don't understand I _can't_ drink."

"Why, because we're underage? Oh, come on Sakura-chan, you know as ninja's we can do whatever we want!"

"Naruto…I just can't."

"Leave her." Sasuke butted in. "If she doesn't want to come, then she doesn't have to." Even though, he was furious with her childish behavior , his protective side still kicked in. It was like automatic, or something.

"Aww! Sasuke-teme, you know very well it won't be the same without Sakura-chan being there!" Sasuke shrugged, and placed his hand on the doorknob opening it slightly, but Naruto would not give up.

"Come on! Sakura-chan! Please!"

"Naruto, _**no**_!" Sakura shouted, she collided her fist to the table snapping it in half, with her monstrous strength. "Shit…" she cursed, tears flowing down her face.

Swiftly, the door Sasuke just opened slammed shut, as he turned to face the two of them, "What the fuck is your problem Sakura!" He threw his jacket on the floor out of irritation

"Sasuke…" Naruto started, but his voice faded, when he noticed the curse mark imprinting themselves across his friend's arm. "Sasuke…calm down…" He cautioned. But Sasuke paid him no attention, as Sakura's tears flew more rapidly. She wrapped her arms around her body, and crumbled to the floor, hanging her head down low.

"Shit! Sakura stop the fuck with crying! If you have a problem with me, then just spit it out!"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke. "Calm down you idiot!"

"No! She fucking rejected me!" Sasuke spat, his voice shaking a bit. "You said that I could trust her, and she loved me, well if she loved me so much, why doesn't she want to marry me!"

Naruto closed his mouth, taken back.

"Why then, Naruto? Huh?" Sasuke repeated angrily stuffing his hands back into his pocket, and turning his back on the both of them, he reopened the door, about to leave, and this time not to return. This is why he banned himself from all emotions, from all bonds. Because life always decides to screw with him, and fuck up whatever he had that was going good for him. He was born to be an avenger, and he's supposed to be chasing Itachi down, even if he means he's going to be chasing him for the next twenty years. That was his purpose in life, yeah at first he thought it was being with Sakura, everything would be okay.

But, obviously that wasn't going to happen. He thought maybe, _just maybe_, they would get married. But wishful thinking never turned out well for him, never-

"I-I-I'm pregnant."

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**Oh! JE-EEEZ! Review homeboys!**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

_**Flashback**_

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"What are you doing here?"

It was a dark cloudless night in Konoha, and Sakura had decided to take a stroll through the village. Unconsciously her legs had taken her to a place that she was often known to go to when she was deep at thought. The bench.

To many people it was just another simple stone bench, not even worth sitting on. But to her, it was full of memories. It was here that she and Ino had played pirates, the bench acting as their pirate boat. It was here that her parents had surprised her with a new chemistry text book that was wrapped neatly under the bench, acting as her Christmas tree. It was here where she practiced her shadow clone jutsu.

But, it was also here Sasuke first opened up to her.

It was also here she had sat one snowy afternoon asking him if he wanted to go play in the snow with her, obviously he had turned her down.

It was where he left her that night, the moon shining bright just like tonight, had said his thanks, and left for five years.

It's always been _he_r special place. A place with memories, some good some bad.

She couldn't sleep tonight, something clawed at the back of her mind refusing to let her sleep.

So she returned to her favorite spot hoping to clear her mind, but the cause of all her troubles happened to be sitting right on that bench, his head hung low.

Sasuke lifted his head slightly at the sound of her voice; she could say that he almost winced at it.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" She repeated again, slowly sitting next to him on the bench. She noticed again his posture. He had always been quite reserved around her, not as exuberant as when he was around Naruto, but had seemed at ease with her. But today he was rigid. Awkward. Sakura sighed, at his lack of response and shifted slightly, now feeling unwanted.

The leaves had already altered their colors, and some had now fallen to the ground, the first signs of winter approaching. She was dressed in an oversized white fleece shirt paired with black tights, that were tucked into black boots. Her hair was a bit untidy, pink strands falling disordered. She self consciously tucked a strand behind her ears, and shivered a bit.

It was cold.

But Sasuke refusing to show weakness as always, wore his usual plain black t-shirt with black trousers. The only way she could tell that he was cold, and not just some kind of android, was the fact that the tips of his nose had flushed a slight shade of pink.

She scooted closer towards him, and laid her head on his shoulder though she could sense some resistance in him allowing her.

"It's late."

"I know." He said barely above a whisper.

"What's wrong?" She asked. They were friends. Had been so for some months now, and Sakura loved it. She could sense some change in the way he interacted with her when she was injured. Before, when she could barely walk, he would carry her on his back anywhere she wanted to go, even when it was just to the market. He stayed at her home at night just to make sure that no one barged through her house to harm her at her weakest of moments, though when she called him out on doing so he claimed his home was 'under renovations' so he had nothing else better to do. He proof read some of the essays that Tsunade had her write, and even wrote while she dictated.

But once the scars _he_ made had disappeared, and the casts went off, he kept his distance. To her it was like he was rectifying what he had done wrong. And once he felt that he had done all he could do, he avoided her like a plague.

He had a misty look in his eyes whenever she saw him. At first she thought she had done something wrong, something to hurt his feelings, since he acted somewhat normal around Naruto and the rest. When the entire team would go out to eat, as soon as she arrived he would excuse himself.

He wouldn't even walk on her street anymore.

And it drove her wild. She wanted to know why, so she had pressured him at one point, demanded why he wouldn't talk to her. But looked at her like she was delusional and had replied,

"**I don't know what you are talking about, Sakura." **She had shook her head defiantly, knowing that he was lying, but before she could protest he had already walked away.

It hurt her, and did it sting? Of course. But what could she do? He didn't want her company anymore and without him she felt lost. She loved him, loved him so deeply, but that never counts. Love never works one way.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Sasuke repeated himself, not knowingly. And a maelstrom of emotions hit her at once.

And without knowing why, or how to stop it, a lone tear fell from her eye and landed on his arm.

Sasuke flinched, which caused Sakura to lift her head immediately to brush whatever tears had just appeared.

"Why are you crying?" He sounded agitated.

And the tears came flowing faster and harder. It was like that simple question had triggered the repressed sobs that she didn't even know she was holding.

And it hurt. It hurt so much, to love someone that couldn't even be bothered.

She threw her hands on her face and her head bent over. Her shoulders shook, causing tremors to run through her entire petit frame. And he just watched her.

Could he have held her? Could he have said something reassuring? Didn't he just spend the previous three months tending to her every need? Hasn't he listened to every single rambling story that came out of her mouth? Hadn't he watched her sleep, watched her eat from the corner of his eye, smiled at some of her stories, and hadn't he got to a point where he didn't mind her company? Hadn't he realized that he was starting to find her irresistible?

The way she was unbelievably happy whenever something barely exciting happened. Or they way she laughed at his pathetic attempts to tell a joke. The way she could curl herself like she was a baby when she was sleeping. The way her nose would crinkle when she was angry. The way her eye's got dimmer when she was sad. The way she could sing off tone to every simple song. The way she drummed her fingers against the table when she was learning medical techniques.

The way she could touch him, just a _small_ touch, and he could feel like his arm was on _fire_. The way she could _smile_ at him, and he couldn't help himself_ smirking_ back. The way she ran her hands through his hair, and it felt like his head had been _shocked_ by high voltage. The way she could fall asleep watching a movie with him, her head on his chest, and he could catch himself wondering if she could hear his heart beat irregularly. Or could it be the way she could spark sharp pains through his curse mark that was supposed to be pain_less_. So, all in all, he should have-_no, __**was **__supposed_ to comfort her. Hold her in his arms and tell her how he would love her forever. Tell her he would die for her; protect her, anything if it were just for her sake. But he couldn't. Because he is Sasuke Uchiha, he does not confess his feelings to anyone.

So he walked away.

He got up from the bench, headed in no particular direction. He just couldn't be by her anymore. It wasn't safe for her… or for him.

"Why won't you say anything to me?" He heard a faint voice. He knew whose words they belonged to for he wasn't stupid, but he just couldn't dare to turn around and face her.

"Why do I have to say anything to you?" He retorted. He could hear take inhale sharply, but ignored her.

" You've always acted like you've hated me." She started, slightly hiccupping. "But, recently I thought we were getting really close. I thought we were friends…I thought you were happy." She added the last bit desperately to cling on to any part of him, but kept her hands to her side.

"…"

"Don't you remember Sasuke-kun? We had fun, right?"

"I don't remember." He felt his blood pound through his veins from his lie. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his Uchiha emblem, tears escaping them.

"Of course you wouldn't, maybe it wasn't important to you." Sakura stood up from the bench and took a step towards him expecting Sasuke to react. He was a ninja after all, she was sure he would have heard her get up. "But it was important to me." She whispered the last part running her hands in frustration. Why was she crying? Why did she have to sound so desperate?

"Stop it."

She slightly flinched at the harshness of his tone. He sounded like he was angry, like he was annoyed _with_ her.

"Stop caring. I don't _want_ it."

"Sasuke-kun…I can't…"

"We are not meant to be. You should understand that by now, Sakura."

"I won't."

"You should."

"But I can't."

"_Why?"_ Sasuke turned around and his eyes were red, the cursed mark spread down his arm, covering it with tons of strange black prints. "Why do you fucking care so much!" Sasuke stood there fuming, his curse mark spreading, covering more areas of his body, slowly, but surely.

But, instead of just keeping her distance since she had learned firsthand the type of torture Sasuke could do to her, she walked _towards_ him.

She walked towards him with a peaceful smile on her face and her arms outstretched towards him, there wasn't a single trace of fear in her eyes. Sasuke knew that his cursed mark had released, he knew right now he was dangerous. Murderous. He should have told Sakura to stay back, warn her something – anything.

But he didn't.

Sakura walked right up to him, a mere few inches away from his demonic self. The moon shone bright in the sky, and thought it should have been way past two in the morning, with the light emitting from the moon, it didn't look past seven. She stared at him, never removing her gaze from his Sharigan, and he too watched her as she slowly lifted that hand and placed it on his black scribal marks.

He didn't flinch, like he would have done on most occasions, but all he could do was watch her.

"Do you want to know why?" Sakura whispered, her voice harmonizing with the soft breeze blowing. Sasuke noticed the slight goose bumps on her hands. Without waiting for a reply, she stood on the tip of her toes and leaned over into Sasuke's ear, her hand now on his shoulder. "Because, I love you."

And before she could react, or even place her foot back on the floor, Sasuke had swiftly grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. He didn't intend to, one must say it was…. instincts.

He felt a high rush of emotions that he's never felt before. Of course he's kissed other girls, he _was _Sasuke Uchiha, but they were nothing compared to this girl, Sakura Haruno.

Sakura's fingers rose from his shoulder and grasped his neck, her fingers gently brushing up against the mark. Although, it was already smoldering, that slight touch sent his body into convulsions that Sakura didn't even notice. She could feel his arms shake, his skin becoming colder, but in response she reacted by kissing him harder, more forcefully.

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"_**Ohayo, Sasuke-kun! Would you like to go on a date with me?"**_

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Sasuke's mind raced, and deep down he knew _something _was wrong, he knew he shouldn't be kissing her right now; his mind wasn't in its right state. But her lips were so…perfect. And though the cursed mark literally felt like it would peel right off with his skin as their kiss continued, it was almost bittersweet.

But, soon it became too heated, and he didn't even know or how, but somehow they were on that bench he had been sitting on earlier. He was on top of her, she lying on the hard bench, not seeming to mind its discomfort.

Abruptly, Sakura made the poor choice; she removed her lips from Sasuke's own, and placed them on his neck, right above his cursed mark.

The mark blazed as if it was a sharp blade cutting through his skin, and this time he felt it. Sasuke heard himself hiss through pain, but the own sound he made sounded strangely distant.

Sakura pulled away, alarmed and touched the back of his neck gently, still not aware of the distress she was causing by just doing that.

Sasuke grunted again, the cursed marks, now increasing their pace, crossing rapidly all over his body; he grunted in pain and doubled over restraining a scream. The thirst to kill was so strong, that it made his throat dry. He knew the aim of the new mark, it destroys all things connected to his emotions, and that thing was Sakura Haruno.

"_**Sasuke-kun!"**_

And that's the last thing he heard before his mind went blank.

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_**Chapter Thirteen**_

Sasuke sat on the stone bench near the gates of Konoha. His head hung low. He ran his hands through his hair tiredly, feeling way older than his age of seventeen. He didn't know how to react, what to do, what to say.

"_**Sasuke-kun! I love you! I really do, and don't think I cheated on you because I didn't…I really didn't…"**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

He didn't know how to think about that. What he was supposed to say. After she revealed that she was pregnant with someone else's child he didn't say anything. He couldn't. The only thing he could do, the thing he's known to do when things get to hard for him and involve way too much emotion, was run. And so that's what he did.

He ran.

He ran right out of her house, not turning back to see Naruto or Sakura's expression to his random burst of emotion. How absurd, childish it seemed to run away from a problem. But that's what he learned to do. It's never failed him before. He didn't care if Naruto called him a 'scaredy-cat' or Sakura called him a 'coward.' This was not shit he was supposed to be involved in. He wouldn't even be able to be considered a '_Baby Daddy'_ because _he_ knows, and s_he_ knows that it's not his child.

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke slightly flinched at the sound of his name. This whole scene, this place was so nostalgic. It was ironic that his feet had moved him here, no matter how much he hated this place. To him it was the worst spot in Konoha, this stupid bench.

"What do you want, _Naruto_?"

Naruto stood their awkwardly, his hands in his pocket. This had to be the worst Valentine's Day ever.

"You ran out so fast, I was just checking up on you teme."

"I don't need you to _babysit _me." Sasuke retorted, staring at the floor not even bothering to look at his blonde teammate in the eye. The evening was getting late, and there were a few civilians walking about, some even greeted Naruto as they past where Naruto would politely nod. It was crazy that now they appreciated their nine-tailed fox after he's saved their sorry asses on countless occasions.

They stayed like that, both of them quiet lost in their own thoughts. Naruto felt partly guilty for this whole scenario. If he hadn't have pushed Sasuke to propose to her on this night, then maybe things would have been different. She would have still been pregnant with that asshole's baby, but at least Sasuke wouldn't have found out the night he proposed to her.

.

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.

"_Sakura-chan…" Naruto said cautiously after Sasuke had left. Sakura had slumped onto the couch her eyes red, but to his surprise she wasn't crying. Tears do dry up after a while. _

"_Why are you still here?" Sakura's voice cracked due to the stress. Her throat was dry, her mouth bitter, and the stupid smell from the amazing food Sasuke had prepared for them was still reaching her senses, which made her even feel sicker. "Why don't you just leave with him?" _

_Naruto shook his head, "Sakura-chan, whether your pregnant with some strangers child, it's okay. I'm still your friend, we can go through this together. Sasuke will get…over this sometime. He'll just have to live with the fact that you had an affair with another guy."_

_But Sakura shook her head defiantly, "I didn't have sex with someone!"_

"_Well, Sakura-chan I know you think I'm dumb, but I do have a child of my own. I do know how the whole baby making process is done. You stick your-"_

"_No! Didn't you hear what I told Sasuke-kun?" Sakura interrupted. She sighed, and played with the hem of her dress. "I didn't get pregnant, through intercourse."_

"_Isn't…Isn't that the only way?" Naruto stammered. _

"_It's supposed to be, but I was injected with a dose of advanced semen."_

"_Ew." Naruto shuddered over the last word. Though, he was a boy and everything, but it's kind of weird to hear it come out of someone's mouth. "When? Where? Last time I checked the villagers here just don't carry around needles with sperm in them."_

_Sakura's head dropped her bottom lip quivered. "It didn't happen in Konoha."_

"_No!" Naruto shouted his voice loud and alarmed. He knew it. He knew there had to be a reason Sakura was taking to Sound. "Who was it? Orochimaru? That's disgusting! No offense, but your kid is going to be looking messed up!"_

"_No…" Sakura's face paled, her head still hung low her bottom lip still shaking. "I-It's Kabuto's child."_

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"Are you still up for it then?" Naruto asked suddenly breaking the silence. Sasuke looked startled at the question.

"For what?"

"The mission," Naruto reminded him as if that was the most important thing at the moment.

"Yes I am." He responded, though up to this point he had completely forgotten about it. He had a mission early morning and he would be gone for a whole month. Away from all this drama and away from _her_. Maybe that's what he needed, some space, just to clear his mind. Naruto was going to argue, saying that he wasn't in the right mind state to go on a S-ranked mission, but as if Sasuke could read his mind he responded. "One of the most common rules of a ninja. Never let your emotions get in the way of completing a mission."

"Sasuke…"

"Don't you remember?"

"…"

"Well _don't_ you?" Sasuke repeated a bit louder that time.

"Yeah, I know, but Sakura…"

"I'm going home." Sasuke stood up, stuffing his hands in pockets. "I'll see you in the morning." Sasuke walked away, back to his home, and for the first time in a long time he slept alone that night.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Kakashi asked early the next morning. The team consisted of Neji, Naruto, Sasuke and himself. Though they didn't respond, Kakashi could take that as a yes.

"Be safe," Hinata said sweetly at Naruto…and to Neji. She and a few others had come to see the team off. Neji nodded, while Naruto gave her a long hug, attempting not to squash Kaori in the process.

"Dada," he whined his little hands outstretched to his father. Naruto felt an urge to stay, and ditch the mission all together, but he knew he wasn't allowed to do that, he's a ninja. That's what he loved doing, even though he loved his family more. But as long as he knew he was fighting to protect his family, and their home, he was content.

"Hey, Kaori!" Naruto ruffled his copy cat blonde hair, and Kaori giggled, resting his head back on his mother's chest.

"Byee!" Kaori waved by scrunching his fingers, instead of his whole hand, and Naruto imitated him, giving another sweet peck on Hinata's head.

"Be safe." He told the both of them, and Hinata nodded, feeling a bit emotional.

Sasuke watched this whole scene, feeling a bit envious. He really didn't care about Naruto's child, in his eyes the kid was pretty ugly, but the fact that he could call the child his _own_. That's something he, Sasuke Uchiha, couldn't do.

"Hey where's Sakura?" Kakashi asked suddenly folding the maps into his bag. The gang was here, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee even Tenten, but no Sakura?

"Maybe she's not feeling well," Ino offered, oblivious to the truth.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her name coming up. Couldn't he go five minutes without anyone talking about her? Was it seriously that impossible?

"I'm right here."

Everyone looked up to see Sakura walking slowly arriving at the gate late. Sasuke noticed that she was wearing the same thing from yesterday's dinner, not even bothering to change. He felt himself uncontrollably looking at Sakura's belly. It wasn't visible yet, but there was someone _growing_ inside of her. Something that would come into this world and learn to call her 'Mommy', but not him 'Daddy'.

"Oi! Billboard brow! Where were you?" Ino exclaimed running up to her, giving her a hug. "I had to wake up at five in the morning just to say bye to them, and my teammates aren't even part!"

"You even woke _me_ up." Shikamaru added dryly. He had a mission the tomorrow with this annoying blonde, and his oversized best friend.

Sakura laughed, but it was just a few pitches of genuine Sasuke noticed, "Sorry guys! I overslept!"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, running up to her and giving her a hug. He looked at her with a look that was asking if she was okay, but she avoided his gaze and stared at Sasuke. Who was returning her gaze.

"Sasuke-kun…" She said out loud. Everyone was quiet, staring at the two of them, especially Kakashi.

Sasuke looked at her a moment longer, scowled, and turned his head. "Let's go." He motioned with his hand for Neji and Naruto to follow him, and he quickly vanished. Now Kakashi scowled, he was the one that got to say when it was time to go! He was the leader of this mission, he followed them with some hand signals of his own, and then vanished leaving in a puff of smoke.

"Well!" Ino shouted stretching her hand in the air, "Time, to go!" But, Sakura didn't move, her eyes watering up. "Oi! Billboard brow, what's up?" She went over to Sakura and rubbed her back affectionately. "There's no need to worry everything will be okay, they're strong ninja's they'll come back fine! Then you can go eat ramen with them like you guys always do and everything will be back to normal!"

Those words didn't stop Sakura though, and she continued to cry knowing very well that the 'normal' life as she knew it was over.

* * *

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_**You said I'll never leave you alone…**_

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…_._

**So! I'm done! Whew! You know if you review more, I update faster? Interesting trend huh? HAHA. **

**I'd like to thank a few reviewers **

**Sam-AKA-SakuxSasuLover**** : Haha I updated! Lol, it's really your review that made me update, though it was quite short and simple! **

**fdty**** : lol yes it was Paramore! Cool guess man!**

**7HeartAndSoul7**** : haha, please don't piss in your pants! You gotta hold that pee for later on mann.**

**Thanks for everyone else's reviews! Really appreciate them! And du-ude!**

**Is Sasuke ever gonna step up and be the man he's supposed to be, and make the best out of this situation? Hmm.**

**Peace. **


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter Fourteen**

**

* * *

**

"_Oh, come on!"_

"_No."_

"_Please?"_

"_No."_

_Sasuke hissed, as Sakura pulled his arm relentlessly, but Sasuke stood his ground. He remained stoic, with one hand in his pocket and a scowl on his face. Sakura had come over his house in her tiny red bikini, claiming that the whole gang was going to the beach, and she wanted him to come with. _

"_Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed pulling harder, but Sasuke just wouldn't budge. _

"_I 'm not going."_

_Sakura threw her hands down in defeat, "Why? It's going to be so much fun! Everyone's going to be there!" Sakura pouted her lips childishly and crossed her arms across her red bikini top. Sasuke shrugged and plunged on his coach. _

"_Don't care."_

_Sakura groaned in frustration, but gave up, knowing very well that if Sasuke did not want to do something, he really didn't want to do it. "Okay, well I'll see you later." She bent over the coach and gave him a quick kiss on the head and was about to walk out the door, when Sasuke called her name. "Yes?" She called out, turning her head at him._

"_Go put a shirt on." _

"…_?" Sakura blinked, and looked down at her attire. She was just wearing a red bikini top, with matching bottoms, but she was wearing Daisy Dukes. "I don't get it, why?"_

"_I don't want you walking out like that." He replied simply, not even looking at her. _

"…_But I'm going to the beach…"_

"_I know that."_

"…_So this is what I'm going to wear."_

"_I know that."_

"_So…?"_

"_So…you are not there __**yet.**__ Go put a shirt on, and then take it off when you get to the beach." Sasuke explained removing his own plain white tee. Sakura puffed out her cheeks, about to retort, but held her tongue. A fight over what she could wear was not worth it. Sasuke tossed the shirt over to her, and though it smelt just like him…it was still annoying._

"_Thanks __**Dad**__." Sakura rolled her eyes at the last part. "I'm going now."_

_Sasuke didn't respond though and just went back to his couch, and closed his eyes._

_

* * *

_

**Day Fifteen**

Sasuke shot up from the floor. The sun was just beginning to rise, leaving him completely dazed. He stretched, hearing the stitches in his bones loosen with a soft 'pop' noise. He had another dream about her. She had such a strong hold on him, and no matter how hard he tried to shake it off, he couldn't.

"You up?"

Sasuke slowly stood up in response as Kakashi handed him a burnt fish, and though it wasn't much, Sasuke appreciated it. As of today, Kakashi was really reluctant to show any form of kindness on this entire mission, but maybe he woke up on the right side of the floor this morning.

Sasuke nodded in thanks and sat back on the ground, squinting his eyes at the sun. They were half way done with their mission, already took the important scroll from the wrong hands and placed them in the right hands of the Suna, but from the Suna they had to transport some high profile debutant to the Village Hidden in the Mist.

"You look distracted." Kakashi stated lamely. If Sasuke didn't know any better he would think that Kakashi actually cared.

"I'm fine." He took a bite out of his fish, a bit more aggressively then he had wanted to, but those dreams about _her _that he's been having seemed to make him really hungry by the next morning.

Kakashi looked like he was about to ask another question, but let it slide and the two remained sitting there quietly as the rest of the team woke up.

* * *

"Oh!" Naruto squealed like a seven year old girl as his new 'toy' vibrated in his pocket. Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes, while Neji frowned.

"You are being very irrational." Neji stated simply. Naruto ignored him though, and stuck his tongue out at him.

"What? You've got to be kidding me, so if you had a child you wouldn't think about him all the time?" Naruto challenged reaching into his pocket and pulling out his new machine. Soon the irritating noise irrupted from it as Naruto played with it.

"I think it is magnificent!" Shouted the _actual_ seven year old amongst them. She had a trilling high pitched voice, long black hair, and dazzling emerald eyes; that often remind him of Sakura. She was currently on Sasuke's back her tiny hands wrapped loosely around his neck. "Let me see the picture when you're done!"

Naruto grinned happily, and paused. Sasuke grunted; the more Naruto paused to check his stupid machine, the more time it took to do the mission. Kakashi sighed, and placed his bag on the clearing in the forest, taking out his famous orange book. Obviously, this was going to take a while.

Neji, on the other hand, dismissed himself into the forest for a few quiet moments.

The little girl climbed off of Sasuke's back and ran up to Naruto, clapping her hands giddily. Naruto had brought this new technology, a small handheld machine that you could receive and send pictures. It could even make 'phone calls', but there wasn't any reception in the whole ninja area…

Naruto had explained earlier that someone at Hinata's pregnancy class had recommended this device for communication when he went on long missions, and it obviously worked.

"Oh! Look!" Naruto held out his device, a picture of his Kaori smiling. Naruto eyes filled with water, "Amaya, look how big he has gotten!" Amaya squirmed the device out of Naruto's hand and cooed.

"He is adorable!"

During their nonsense, Sasuke could feel his temper rise. Hinata sends one picture of Kaori every freaking day through that device. And every day Naruto gets the same shocking expression on his face.

Three month old babies cannot grow significantly in fifteen days.

It doesn't happen, and though Sasuke wasn't a father (and most likely would never be) he knows very well that goes against the rules of physics.

"Sasuke-sama! Would you like to see?" Amaya skipped over to him holding the black device high above her head. "Baby Kaori is drooling today in this picture."

Sasuke made a face and shoved his hands in his pockets, obviously not interested. But Amaya didn't get the hint.

"So…you don't want to see it?"

"No."

"Why?"

"This isn't a question that requires a reason."

"Do you hate kids?"

"No."

"Oh, so you like kids?"

"No."

"…" She retreated her hand and her smile fading. "Oh."

Naruto ran over to the two and gently took the device from her hands, and glared at Sasuke.

"Don't worry Amaya! Sasuke loves kids, he's just being a jerk today!" He ruffled her hair. This girl had been isolated most of her life due to her status as the debutant of The Hidden Mist Village. Her father lived in Suna, while her mother lived in the Hidden Mist. It should be quite tiring travelling between regions every other weekend, and it didn't give her an opportunity to make friends.

"But, he's always like this." She pointed out sadly.

"I know, you'll get used to it," Naruto encouraged. Sasuke twitched; he really hated it when people spoke about him like he wasn't standing five feet away from them.

"Naruto, are you done?" Kakashi stood up stretching. He also hated when he read too much of the Icha Icha Paradise, because then when he finished it, what else was he going to do?

Naruto glared at Sasuke a moment later, but then he removed his gaze to nod his head at Kakashi.

"Yeah, sensei! Let's go!"

"Wait." Amaya pulled Naruto's sleeve, "where's Neji-san?"

* * *

_Sasuke felt someone shift next to him that made him open his eyes. Sakura was fidgeting tears escaping her lids, and her mouth slightly open. Her chest was rising up and down dangerously and sweat layered her entire body. Clearly she was having a bad dream._

"_Sakura, wake up." Sasuke said in a hushed, but yet alarmed tone. He grabbed her arm and shook her. _

_She opened her eyes, and made a sound that sounded as if she had just taken her first breath. Her back arched and eyes were glazed, fear hidden within them. _

"_Are you okay?" He demanded sitting up. Almost instantly, Sakura turned to look at him, as if she really hadn't noticed her surroundings. And the look that she gave him…was a look he never wanted to see in her eyes again. _

"_Sakura…" Sasuke started cautiously, gently gripping her shoulder. He felt her shy away from his touch, but not completely. _

"_Sasuke-kun…"_

"_Calm down." He ordered, placing his whole arm around her, engulfing her in a hug. Reluctantly, she placed her head against his chest and belittled herself into his body heat her own body shivering. _

"_Sasuke…" Sasuke's ears winced with the sound of her voice not using his name with its usual suffix. _

"_What is it?" He asked his chin resting on top of her drenched hair. _

"…_I don't want you to hurt me anymore."_

_

* * *

_

**Day Twenty**

Eventually, the group had managed to find Neji on that same day. He had emerged from the forest with pink frosting on his cheek…no one could really explain it; either did he want to, so they left it at that.

Today though, signaled the nine day countdown to when Amaya would leave them, and Naruto decided that he and Sasuke go into the forest and see if they could pick a nice flower for her departure.

"This is stupid." Sasuke muttered, as Naruto went diving into bushes, puling anything colorful and beautiful out amongst the weeds. "Seriously."

"You just don't enjoy the simple things in life, teme."

Sasuke clenched his jaw and took his seat at a nearby boulder that was pretty comfortable, as he watched Naruto worry himself for the next fifteen minutes, but suddenly his device in his back pocket vibrated and Naruto grinned happily knowing exactly what time of the day it was.

Picture Time.

Sasuke snorted scornfully. It's not that he was jealous or anything, he could never be jealous of Naruto…

Naruto instantly plumped onto the floor reaching for the device, and he's grin grew. Silently he admired the picture and held it up for Sasuke to see, "You see how much he's grown?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "He always looks like that."

But Naruto shook his head defiantly, "No way!" He crawled up to Sasuke and sat right in front of him. "Take a closer look!"

Even though, he didn't want to, he had a feeling that Naruto wouldn't leave him alone until he did, so he snatched the device from Naruto's hand and actually _looked _at it.

And maybe to someone else the remarkable blonde disheveled hair, and trademark blue eyes would of seemed astonishing, but to him…it just reminded him of something he couldn't have.

A son.

"He still looks the same." Sasuke stated placing the device back in Naruto's hand. Naruto looked disappointed, but still held it out for him to be observed.

"No teme, you're not looking at it right," Naruto placed his thumb on one of the buttons and previous picture of Kaori appeared, in the same exact outfit he had worn the day they left. And he did look a bit smaller, younger.

From the look on Sasuke's face, Naruto could finally tell that he understood what he was trying to say. "You see, he's grown so much!"

Sasuke sighed, and simply nodded, casting his eyes off into the distance.

"Do you miss her?"

Sasuke jumped slightly at the question, avoiding Naruto's gaze.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Sakura-chan, who else?" Naruto sighed, he really cared for his friend, and he knows he's hurting badly since he's been distracted lately on the mission, and who could blame him…but it wasn't fair to Sakura as well.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But…" Naruto started, "You can't hide from the problem forever, and she's going to have that kid."

Sasuke shrugged, still avoiding his gaze, "She screwed with another man, and you expect me to accept that calmly?"

"No! That's not how it happened!" Naruto blurted. He quickly covered his mouth, he had promised himself that he'd let Sakura break the news to him. But it was too late; Sasuke had already heard the words and glanced at him, his eyes quickly darkening.

"What are you saying?"

"Sasuke-teme…" Naruto sighed running his hands through his hair, "Look, Sakura-chan told me that the baby was injected into her by Kabuto."

"Injected…?" Sasuke's voice faded, slightly confused. Could they do that? Inject babies? Who even thinks of doing that? Did Kabuto want an offspring to carry on his twisted mind? "She told you this?"

Naruto nodded brushing himself off the ground, "She didn't cheat on you, she didn't sleep with another man, it was_ your_ twisted buddies that did that too her."

Sasuke's jaw clenched at the news as a memory flashed into his head of Sakura's nasty blue bruise that she had on her thigh when he found her in their lair. Of course, that's where he must've injected her… "They're not my companions."

"Well, they sure think they are. So when we go back to Konoha, I don't want you acting like such a wimp around her! Because it's not her fault! She's going to have a hard enough time as it is."

Sasuke stood up and started to walk back to the rest of their team. He shouldn't be thinking about this on a mission, and though at this point the mission was going pretty smooth, you are not supposed to let your mind wander too far down memory road, but before they continued with the mission, he wanted to ask Naruto something.

"What is it?" Naruto asked after Sasuke called his name out it in a very dead-panned way.

"Remember how much you hated Nagato, before you respected him, or whatever it is that you feel for him?"

"Hell yeah! He was a freaking asshole! Throwing Hinata around like she was a doll!"

"Good." Sasuke turned to face him head on, "Now imagine how it would feel if he impregnated Hinata, whether through needles, or whatever."

Naruto's face paled, and his throat became dry by just the mere thought of it. "Sasuke-teme, I don't…"

"Would you still care for Kaori like he was your own?"

"I-I…"

"Would _you_?"

* * *

"_AWWWW!" _

_Sasuke's ears grimaced at Sakura's squeal. It was one of those rare days that they were out together in public, and though he has been back for eight months, dating her secretly for two, people still stared at them like they were moving mannequins. _

_Sakura had begged him to go to the park today. She claimed she was tired of hanging out in their houses, she wanted to get out. So of course, Sasuke gave her almost anything she wanted, and took her out to the park. _

"_Isn't that baby so cute!" Sakura awed from a distance as young couple attempted to teach their daughter how to walk._

"_All children look the same."_

"_Sasuke-kun!" Sakura laughed, and hit him jokingly on the shoulder. "Don't be so cold, so you're telling me you never want to have kid?"_

_Sasuke snorted, "Kids just hinder you strength wise. I don't need any more attachments to make me weaker."_

"_So…how do you expect to rebuild your clan?"_

"_What?"_

"_You said on that day when we had to introduce ourselves, a long time ago, that you had two goals. One of them was to rebuild your clan; you need kids if you want any more Uchiha's."_

"_Why do you remember that?" Sasuke sounded almost appalled by how stalker-ish she was at that age._

"_It doesn't matter! You said it."_

"_I also said I would defeat 'a certain someone', correct?"_

_Sakura blinked, not really liking how the tone of the conversation no longer sounded playful. _

_Sasuke continued, "But, I'm not, am I?"_

"_B-but you're only taking a break…because…"_

"_Because of what?" Sasuke smirked, he would have embraced her by the waist…but they were in public. Wouldn't want to give any reasons for the villagers to gossiping more…_

"…_because…of me?"_

"_Exactly."_

_

* * *

_

_**Day Twenty-five**_

"Okay dude!" Naruto through his hands down in frustration and pointed at Neji. "What is with the frosting you always have on your cheek?"

The whole gang stopped in their tracks, except for Amaya, she was sleeping comfortably on Sasuke's back.

"What are you accusing me off?" Neji wiped his cheek quickly, but dismissively.

"You know what I am talking about! You always go off into the woods and then come back with frosting! Like, that's serious bull! If you've got cake I want some too!"

Kakashi sighed, and pulled out his orange book, seriously this was going to take some time…as always.

Sasuke felt his left eye twitch, annoyed. "What does it matter? In five days we go home, and you can have the freaking ramen cake you want."

But Naruto ignored him, and still growled at Neji. He's never been one of his favorite people, with his dry sense…of everything. Even when he wanted to marry Hinata, he had always thought Neji would be on his side since he did help him escape those weird Hyuuga bonds or something. But no, Neji joined his ridiculous family and wore all black to their wedding ( seriously black tux, socks, shirt, tie…everything), which gave it a whole morbid feel, clearly disapproving it.

"If you must know." Neji reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic bowl that looked like it was filled with cupcakes.

"Why do you have that! And why didn't you give me any?"

"I do not want some diabetic father to raise my nephew, so I ate it myself."

Sasuke snorted, "To become the diabetic Uncle, huh?"

"No," Neji replied courtly, "As well Tenten created them."

"Who?" Naruto asked, startled. Did Neji have a girlfriend and he didn't know about it?

"Tenten…the female member on my team? We have been in an inclusive relationship for almost a year now."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to act stupefied. Neji was dating someone for a _year?_ How come he never noticed…but then again you hardly see Neji in Konoha anymore. It's like after the chunnin exams he just disappeared.

"Holy shit!" Naruto cursed, "You are so lying!"

"I am not."

"You don't have a female member on your team!"

"…yes, I do."

"Whoa, are you serious? I've never seen her before, have you teme?" Naruto looked over at Sasuke who seemed just as lost as he was.

"She's the brunette that is always at the table for the weekly Sunday Dinner at the Hyuuga's resident?"

"I thought she was the cook!" Naruto said, amazed. He could not believe Hinata had not told him about Neji's secret girlfriend. "Wow, you are so good at keeping secrets."

"It was not a secret." Neji muttered annoyed. These barbarians he had work with, he would wish to never have to work with them again.

"Any wedding bells soon?" Naruto questioned a cheesy grin on his face. "I'd be sure to get my ALL BLACK tux ready!"

Neji ignored the latter part of his question. "I have not foreseen that much ahead into our future. But I do care deeply for her, and I believe that if you care enough for someone then that's all you need." Neji placed the container back in this bag and eyed Kakashi, who sighed and placed his book in his bag. Drama over, Mission continued.

* * *

"_Oh, gosh I am so tired!" Sakura exclaimed collapsing on Sasuke's bed. Sasuke smirked as she balled up next to him. "I had to heal so many people today! It was so exhausting!"_

"_Hn," Sasuke didn't want to sound like he didn't care, but he truly didn't. Sakura's job sound awfully boring, but she loved it. That he could understand, because she was never really good at killing…anything. _

"_And now I'm completely free… and I have all the time in the world, just for you." Sakura kissed him gently on the nose, almost teasingly. _

"_You said you were tired." Sasuke incoherently managed to spit out as Sakura drew a small trail of kisses on his neck. _

"_Mmhmm," Sakura agreed, "But I'm never too tired for you." She kissed him and for a moment or two, everything seemed just perfect, until he suddenly pulled away. Sakura fought the urge to scream out in frustration, but just let out a small sigh. She noticed Sasuke's cursed mark was swirling dangerously, and at first it used to freak her out, but now all she wanted was to have him. _

_But there was no way Sasuke was even going to attempt going down that road again. _

"_Sasuke-kun…" Sakura purred, but Sasuke ignored her and just smirked. _

"_We are not doing this right now, unless you want your face clawed out by me." She knew it was supposed to be a joke, but she knew deep inside that somewhere deep inside she could hear Sasuke's hurt. _

"_Sasuke-kun, we'll be fine. Remember at first when just a small kiss could light you ablaze, well not anymore, your body will adjust to it…I'll adjust to it."_

_But Sasuke remained firm, and though he knew how much he wanted her…how much he needed her to complete himself he stood his ground. _

"_No, Sakura, I'm not taking that risk of going that far, and then blanking out." _

_Sakura frowned and shifted on her side, her back facing his. But, Sasuke only smirked at her childish act and traced her forearm with his finger. "Listen, I am doing this for your own sake."_

"_You never know if you don't try."_

"_I'm __**not**__ taking that risk."_

_Sakura turned abruptly and faced him, "So Sasuke-kun, are you telling me that we'll never ever have-"_

_But Sasuke interrupted he sentence with a long sweet kiss, and then pulled away. _

"_Go to sleep, we'll talk about this later."_

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**Day Twenty-Nine**

Sasuke stirred in his sleep, and finally resulted in the fact that he could not fall back asleep. He slowly walked out into the fresh air letting the night breeze cool him down. That dream- or memory, he just had been so clear, and until this moment he had completely forgotten about it.

The wind blew harder and caused him to slightly shiver…and then he heard someone sneeze. He quickly turned his head and saw little Amaya curled up on top of a rock.

"What are you doing up?" Sasuke called out. He could tell he startled her.

"I couldn't sleep, why are you awake?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Naruto was snoring."

She giggled and slid off the stone, and skipped over to where Sasuke was standing staring at him admirably. "You know, you're very cute for a ninja!"

Sasuke snorted, "I doubt you're supposed to tell me that. Aren't you seven?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm sure you've got swarms of girlfriends just attacking you back at your home." Her green eyes twinkled at just the thought of it.

"Not necessarily."

"Really? So you don't even have one girlfriend?"

Sasuke swallowed, "No."

Amaya's eyes lit up happily, "Oh! Then could you wait for me Sasuke-san? Could you wait for me, it'll only be…" Amaya held up her little fingers and counted silently in her head, "…eleven more years!"

Sasuke chuckled, and couldn't resist staring down at the girl, the way her eyes emerald eyes glimmered in the dark just like-"Sure."

The little girl let out a squeal of happiness, "Yay! Now I have something to look forward to in my life!" Though she sounded happy, the tone of her voice sounding slightly depressing for a seven year old kid.

"I'm sure you'll have a lot more things to look forward to," Sasuke added, seven year olds should not be disappointed with their lives at this point in time. Unless, they're entire family had been executed by another member, _then_ they have a legitimate reason.

But, poor Amaya shook her head, "No, I don't. Though my family is so rich, they don't pay any attention to me. And the fact that they're divorced doesn't help. They just shift me back village to village every weekend."

Sasuke remained silent while he listened to her story, "I just want to have one home, you know? I don't really care what parent I stay with, because I don't really know either of them, but I just want a home. With close friends and a normal neighborhood, like what you and Naruto-san have."

Amaya sighed, and wiped a tear from her eyes, "…but it doesn't matter, now. Just…" Amaya turned her teary face towards Sasuke's, "…when you have a kid, learn to pay attention to them."

They remained silent for some time, but then Sasuke just patted her raven hair. "Go back to sleep."

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Sakura trudged through the town, consciously pulling down her shirt. Though, she was wearing one of the biggest t-shirts she had, she still could think that people could see her mini baby bump that she meticulously attempting to hide.

She knew she was just being paranoid, but she didn't want people to know yet, she didn't want people to find out. It was going to be a long nine months…

She sighed and pulled her long pink hair into a loose ponytail, Tsunade insisted that Sakura should keep up with her medical training just to maintain that public image.

She headed towards her office, and when she climbed up the stairs she could hear a familiar voice.

"Ah, Sasuke-teme! Let's go get some ramen!"

"Idiot."

"Aw, teme! Hinata can't stand any ramen anymore…puhleeeaseee?"

Sakura's heart stopped, and she stopped her climb to the top of the stairs. Were they already back? Had one month truly passed already? What was she going to say-

"Oh, Sakura-chan!"

'_**Damn…'**_

"Hey, how are you?" Naruto continued feeling slightly awkward. He could feel Sasuke shift his weight to his other foot besides him. Sakura smiled slowly, looking from Naruto to Sasuke.

"Hi, I didn't know you were back."

Naruto laughed, "Well aren't you getting a bit sloppy, you used to be able know the exact time me and this teme would return from missions!" Sakura felt herself get out a small laugh; that was true.

"I-I guess I had so much on my mind…"

Naruto nodded, and then scratched his head uncomfortably. "Well, I better be going, Sasuke-teme, don't forget the ramen at six!"

Sasuke grumbled something incoherently, as Naruto walked away, leaving him and Sakura alone on the staircase.

"Hi…" Sakura started slowly meeting his gaze. Sasuke nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"How are you feeling?" No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to shove that protective side of him away.

"Fine, I mean it's kind of heard dealing with _this_ on my own you know?"

Sasuke felt the guilt rise in his stomach, but shoved it back down. Part of him really wanted to just hold her and protect her from everything, but he couldn't. Something held him back.

"Sasuke-kun…I wanted to tell you something before you ran out. I wanted to tell you how-"

"I know."

"You know?"

"Naruto told me."

"Oh… Well yeah…"

"It doesn't change anything."

"!"

"Sakura I can't deal with _that_…"

"Sasuke-kun… But!"

"…but I'll give you a choice."

Sakura bit her bottom lip to keep back the tears. "What is it?"

"It's either me or the kid."

Sakura's eyes widened, while Sasuke stared down at her, his gaze unwavering.

"Sasuke-kun, you can't expect me…"

"You have to pick what's more important." Sasuke interrupted.

Sakura opened her mouth, but then closed it. How could he expect her to pick between the two. She loved him, she really did…but she also loved this baby. Even though the father was technically Kabuto, she didn't really care. It was still _her_ child, and she couldn't abort it…how could she forgive herself for that?

So she held her tongue and avoided his gaze by staring at the floor, tears escaping her eyes.

Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment, but by the tears…by the look on her face…he knew what she chose. And without saying anything he side stepped her and continued his descend down the stairs.

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Naruto stood at the bottom of the stairs his heart crestfallen for he heard their entire conversation. He heard Sasuke take his last step down the stairs, and Naruto flattened himself against the wall, praying that Sasuke wouldn't sense him there, because he would surely kill him for listening.

But instead of continuing towards the exit, he heard him slump to the ground, his back against the adjacent wall.

"Shit Sakura…"

Naruto frowned, wanting to reach out to his friend, but thought better of it. Naruto sat on the floor himself until he was sure that Sasuke was alright.

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"_**Would you still care for Kaori like he was your own?"**_

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**Voila! Finished and just short of 5,000 words. But seriously, would you care for a child that belonged to your enemy? Shit man, I wouldn't, have you lost ur mind! Haha! Review, and let me know…what would you do?**

**xooreoxo**


	15. Chapter 15 Part I

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto.**

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"_Sasuke-kun! Look!" Sakura squealed pulling Sasuke's arm towards a certain store. It was almost reaching the holiday time again in Konoha and Sakura had insisted that Sasuke get some gifts for people even if he 'didn't like anyone'. _

"_What?" Sasuke fought the urge to sniff, as another cold breeze past. He hated the cold, and even though Sakura teased him about his weakness to cold weather, though he was an ice man himself, it was true. He'd rather be roasting in the sun, than freezing like a snowman. _

"_Isn't it beautiful?" Sakura awed. She was pointing to a pair of silver shoes that had pink diamonds incrusted all over them. _

"_It's shoes."_

"_I know! But they're so wonderful! "_

_Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her and sighed, walking into the store and demanding for the price quite rudely to be frank. When the sale manger told him the price his face paled. He quickly turned to Sakura, whose face was waiting with anticipation._

"_Sakura, that's way too much for a shoe." He hissed angrily. Sakura's face fell and her eyes drifted back to the perfect Cinderella shoes at the window._

"_Yeah…I guess you're right."_

_Sasuke watched her walk out of the store, something telling him to buy her the freaking shoe that cost more than a month work of S-ranked mission. Something told him that if he didn't buy that shoe for her, he'd regret it. But of course, being Sasuke he ignored those feelings and headed out of the store empty handed._

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Chapter 15 (Part I)

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"_When you let someone in, it's hard to get them out…"_

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"How long have you been sitting there?" Sasuke muttered under his breath. His breathing was hard and labored as he leaned against the wall. He knew Naruto was sitting on the other side, he'd heard everything. He wasn't stupid, but at this point he couldn't care.

"Long enough," He heard him reply, his voice scratchy from the lack of use. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke snorted, "Sorry doesn't fix anything. It doesn't fix _this_."

"I know…but Sasuke-teme, couldn't you try-" Naruto's voice faded out, chocking on the hypocrisy of the statement.

"_**Would you still care for Kaori like he was your own?"**_

He knew the answer to that. And no matter how heartless the truth sounded, it's still the_ truth_. He couldn't love Kaori like his own son if it was really the son of his enemy. And no matter how noble and caring Naruto was, there was no way he would ever want to be put in Sasuke's shoes.

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_**Five months later…**_

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The next few months they went on without talking, and at times just mostly avoiding each other all together. To the public this wasn't any different…Sasuke and Sakura not talking? Well obviously it made sense, wasn't it just about a year ago he tried to rip her face off?

The only people that noticed the significant difference were Naruto and Tsunade.

A few months ago Naruto had even been brave enough to visit Sasuke who had more than willingly isolated himself from the world. When he stepped into his apartment that once had subtle hints of happiness, it was more than cluttered. Almost as if he was some sort of hoarder. When Naruto had pointed out that it was repulsive to live like this, Sasuke looked at him with ghostly eyes completely oblivious to what he was talking about.

Sakura on the other hand, though at this time was only five months pregnant, lacked the pregnant glow that every woman usually gains during the precious moments of pregnancy. The stress that fell upon her shoulders came from entire village constantly gossiping about her, and her baby.

It was bad enough that she wasn't even married or dating, but the fact that she kept the baby's father's identity so secret that's what drove the citizens wild. People had so many ideas about who the father was some thought that it was…

Naruto ( Hinata had cried herself to sleep for about a week, while Naruto had profoundly claimed that he never had any sexual relations with her)

Lee (The most shocking thought to most villages was that he was even fertile…)

Neji (Isn't he dating that brown headed girl?...)

Shikamaru( Ino was furious when she heard this rumor…)

Kiba (…)

Gaara ( Gaara was so insulted by this, that he actually passed a law to ban all those who spoke of such in his village…)

…but no one had even considered Sasuke.

The worst of it all was that Kakashi had stopped talking to her. It was bad enough that she had lost most of her female companions including Hinata and Ino's friendship from hiding such a huge secret from them, Sasuke, and Lee's affection.

But she always assumed that she would have Kakashi and Naruto as her safeguards, her protectors.

Apparently though, when Kakashi had heard the news of her pregnancy he went mute on the topic. He never said a word about the issue, never complained, never asked her questions, and chose to simply ignore her all together.

You see, Kakashi had always perceived Sakura as the student that he hadn't corrupted. He couldn't handle Sasuke, Naruto even chose another teacher beyond himself, but Sakura. She had always been his perfect student. Though, she studied with Tsunade in her later years, she always kept in contact with him, and he took pride in her. Like the daughter he'd never have.

Now, when he looks at her, he looks with such disapproving eyes that could literally burn a whole through her already fragile heart.

So she was on her own. She had advised Naruto to stay away from her for the mean time, until the baby pops out with oddly gray hair and impaired vision and everyone realized that it could not possibly be Naruto's child. She didn't want to cause any more problems in his house hold, and on top of being called whore she didn't want to be called a home wrecker as well.

And it wasn't like the villagers would necessarily link Kabuto as the father, actually she hoped they wouldn't. Kabuto is considered a traitor in this village, and the fact that she was having a traitor's baby would not be good for the poor innocent child. She didn't want the baby to grow up like Naruto, ridiculed, bullied, and tortured by the sometimes heartless villagers.

She pressed her gentle fingers against her protruding belly, as she waddled her way through the crowded streets, avoiding their stares.

She was tired, she had to admit but it was only nine months…only nine freaking months.

It was an early December chilly morning, and she had bundled herself with layers of clothing. Konoha was filled with festivities, villagers roaming the streets attempting to get their last minute shopping in for the holidays. It was usually her favorite time of year, and since her parents moved out of Konoha when she was sixteen, she enjoyed spending these days with her friends. But…as if now, she really didn't have any.

Couples near her held hands giddily as they left department stores hand in hand, and she stared at them enviously. She wanted to happy like them, smile like that again.

And while she stared at them sadly, a glittery item in a window display caught her eye. Sakura quickly strolled over to it, her hand placed against the glass of the window.

It was that_ exact_ pair of silver shoes that she fell in love with almost a year ago. It was still ridiculously expensive, but remained untouched. Sakura stared at the shoes bitterly; it was like they were mocking her. They stood for something that she couldn't have then, and couldn't have them now, especially since her feet were swollen and huge due to her pregnancy.

"You're still obsessed with that?"

Sakura's heart stopped, and her mouth hung agape. She hadn't even sensed someone behind her; neither had she noticed their freaking reflection in the window display.

"Sasuke-kun?" She slowly turned her head and faced him. He was wearing a heavy navy jacket with a blue and white scarf that she had made for him around his neck…whether he remembered that's where he got it from, she wasn't sure. He matched the jacket with gray sweat pants and heavy winter boots, though there wasn't any snow on the ground.

Sasuke's jaw clenched as his eyes lingered on her stomach and back onto her face. Her face didn't look as full as they should have; with hallow parts in her cheeks and bruise like marks under her eyes, signaling that she hadn't been getting enough sleep. Her pink hair didn't shine as much as it used to, and her green eyes didn't sparkle with such enthusiasm anymore.

"You haven't been taking care of yourself." The words had flown out of his mouth before he had any control of them, with just a hint of that protectiveness that he'd worked so hard to overcome.

Sakura smiled sadly, and faced the shoes again. There was so much she wanted to say, so much that she_ needed_ to say, but right now it didn't seem right.

"It hasn't been easy…" She whispered those words so softly, that Sasuke had almost missed them. They stood there awkwardly for about a moment or so, Sasuke instantly regretting walking up to her in the first place. It was just…when he saw her. When he saw her from across the street, staring at these same pair of shoes, something pulled him here. And without knowing, without his control, he stood behind her watching her carry the same expression that she had about a year ago.

"Aa…"

Sakura closed her eyes at the sweet nostalgic feeling she just got from just hearing Sasuke's familiar words. It was so refreshing…so comforting. "Sasuke-kun…?"

"What?"

"How are you?" Sakura had said those three words with such sincerity, that it almost made him choke.

"I've been better."

"Me too," Sakura placed her hand on her stomach, and Sasuke watched her as she do so, his heartbeat slightly increasing, "I've missed you."

Sasuke stared at her and opened his mouth but then closed it again, rephrasing his sentence, "You shouldn't be out here in this cold."

"I know."

"Then go home." Sasuke snapped. Why was he bickering with her? He didn't own her; he couldn't really tell her what to do either.

"I will," Sakura said, "soon."

She sneezed, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her carelessness, and took the scarf off of his neck and somewhat harshly wrapped it around her neck. "You're still annoying." He quickly turned his heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Sakura stood there for a moment longer the scarf gently fluttering in the wind his scent arousing her senses.

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That night as Sakura walked in her home, she noticed a certain pair of silver shoes on her dining room table.

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**Hey! I'll most likely come out with Part II sometime this weekend, but I didn't want to add it to this, I don't know if it's for 'writer' reasons, or I'm just being lazy…haha I don't know. **

**Oh and ****Luna Rei Harmony**** thanks for the review! I really appreciated it!**

**Review Review!**

**And dude what do you guys think about the shippuden? What is up with their anime coloring, one episode it's all nasty, and then next episode it's all wonderful with shading and shiny stuff…and then the next it looks like a freaking cartoon! Lol the need to stick with one technique! It confuses me!**

**Haha like I said reviews make the world go round **

**XOOREOXO**


	16. Chapter 15 Part II

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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_**FLASHBACK**_

"_Here," Sasuke handed Sakura her steaming hot soup. Sakura grumbled and covered her head with the blankets childishly. It was a chilly winter morning, and Sakura, as careless as she was, had gotten sick. So sick in fact that she wasn't allowed to go on a mission that involved the rest of Team Seven minus Sasuke, who still on probation wasn't allowed to go either. _

"_Sakura, don't be stupid." Sasuke scolded pulling her covers down. He had taken a good half hour preparing this intoxicated remedy for her, and he'd be damned if she didn't eat it. _

"_Sasuke-kun, I don't want it," Sakura whined. Her voice was nearly gone, and she stubbornly sniffs every two seconds instead of grabbing a tissue. _

"_If you don't take it, then you won't get better. It's your own mother's recipe," Sasuke pointed. He sat at the edge of her bed and tugged the covers with his free hand, pulling the entire blanket down exposing her fevered face. Sakura met his gaze by pathetically attempting to glower at him, and slowly sat herself up. _

"_Fine," She crossed her arms across her pink pajamas, but then her face brightened up when a great idea hit her. "But only on one condition!" She sneezed at the end of her sentence which caused Sasuke to flinch._

"_You're in no position to be striking deals with me, Sakura." Sasuke placed the spoon into the soup and stirred it slowly. "This food will go down your throat no matter what."_

_Sakura smiled though, "Nu-uh. I'll only eat that, unless you give me a kiss."_

_Sasuke snorted, "Hardly. I don't kiss infected people."_

_But Sakura didn't even waver and started coughing hysterically, whether on purpose or not, Sasuke couldn't tell but he winced at the sound. He placed the soup down on the table and hovered over her. Sakura doubled over her face as red as a tomato, while she wheezed and gasped for air. _

"_Hey, stop that!" Sasuke ordered, but Sakura could sense the panic in his voice. So she didn't stop instead she continued and even clutched her hand over her chest to add to the dramatics. "Fuck, Sakura!" Sasuke cursed his heart beating erratically. _

_Sasuke quickly placed his hand at her lower back, and kissed her. She tasted like boogers._

_Instantly when he pulled away, he heard her laugh. Sasuke frowned, and while she was laughing he stuck the soup in her mouth. Sakura swallowed instantly, slightly gagging, but still smiling._

"_Shit, don't do that again," Sasuke quickly stood up from her bed, slightly embarrassed that he'd fallen for something so juvenile. Sakura just smiled taking over the spoon, and placed another dose in her mouth. _

"_You're just fun to play with." _

"_I'm not a toy."_

"_I know, but you're so sweet, just like a giant teddy bear!" Sakura half sneezed, half laughed at the comparison. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her; he hated being mocked, especially when she compares him to stupid things, like fake bears. _

"_Whatever Sakura, next time you need my help don't be surprised if I don't help you."_

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"_**When you smile the whole world stops and stares for a while..."**_

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**Chapter 15 part II**

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Naruto laughed as Kiba told them another hilarious story. It was Kaori's first birthday party and Naruto had taken the responsibility to invite all of his closest friends. The party had been going on for a good hour or so, but someone was missing.

"Oi, dobe." Sasuke called out from the sofa. Surprisingly, he had come without much reluctance. Maybe his gloomy home was getting way too creepy for even himself.

"Hey!" Naruto cheered, walking over to him with Kaori following his stride. Little Kaori had just learned how to walk a few months ago to much of Hinata's and Naruto's excitement. Naruto liked placing little obstacles all over the house and watch Kaori attempt to climb over them, enhancing his ninja like skills at his very young age.

Naruto sat on the couch next to him as Kaori climbed up Sasuke's leg. Sasuke frowned. If Naruto hadn't been around, he would've shaken that _thing_ off of him. As of recently, for good reasons, he wasn't a fan of children.

"Enjoying the party?" Naruto called out over the loud music. Sasuke ignored him, and scanned the crowd. It was a pretty good turnout, and even though the decorations where super cliché with blue and orange everything, it was a pretty decent gathering.

Though, most of it Kaori won't be able to remember, but only be reminded of in pictures.

But, he couldn't help anticipating that someone should be here with them and even if he wasn't on the best of terms with that certain person it was only right that she'd be here. It _was _Naruto's kid's first birthday.

And as if the universe could read his freaking mind, the doorbell rang. Naruto quickly jumped off the couch, and headed towards the door to open it, shoving Neji and his estranged girlfriend out of the way, leaving him with Kaori.

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"Up! Up!" Kaori squealed at the foot of his leg. Sasuke stared back at its eerie pearl colored eyes. It was so weird that the kid managed to be an exact cross between Naruto and Hinata; he had Hinata's pale skin color, but managed to snatch Naruto's exact design for his hair. He had Hinata's soft demeanor, but also Naruto's rowdiness. "UP!" Kaori shouted to gain his attention. Shino who was sitting across from him gave him an odd glance from behind his glasses.

"Fine!" Sasuke spat, "You little dirt." He picked him up and placed him on his lap, quite surprised at his weight.

'_What have they been feeding you?'_ Sasuke thought bitterly. Kaori grinned almost as if he could read his mind and stood up on his lap, placing his little pudgy fingers all over Sasuke's face. Sasuke fidgeted trying to dodge his fingers from getting pried into his mouth. So to stop this nonsense touching, Sasuke made a face that he thought was pretty intimidating, but instead it made Kaori laugh.

"Shoskee!" Kaori giggled bouncing up and down, clapping his hands enthusiastically. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Why are you laughing?" Sasuke asked out loud, as if the kid could hear him. Kaori blew a spit bubble out of his mouth, and laughed again when it popped and saliva went all over Sasuke's face.

"Shosskeee!"

Sasuke wiped the spit from his face, but surprisingly he wasn't angry, just…puzzled.

..

Shino watched this whole scene behind his mysterious shades.

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"Coming!" Naruto called out as the doorbell rang for the second time. His hand gripped the doorknob and his smile grew as he opened the door, and saw one of his best friends with a shy smile on her face and an orange wrapped present in her hands.

"Hi."

Naruto's grin grew as he gave her a giant hug, but tried to avoid her now nearly nine month pregnant belly.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't know if you were coming!"

"I didn't know if I was _allowed_ to come." Sakura muttered softly. Naruto broke the hug, looking appalled.

"Why would you say that?"

Sakura ignored his question though and looked over his shoulder and into his living room, noticing that the entire house was packed. "Wow, everyone's here."

Naruto patted her head cheerfully and took her jacket and placed it on the coat rack with all the rest. She was wearing a lovely green maternity dress, with sensible pregnant lady shoes, as Naruto would call them. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, strands falling across her face. She looked stunning in Naruto's opinion.

Sakura played with the gift in her hands, and Naruto almost took it from her, but Sakura shook her head. "No, I want to give it to Kaori myself."

Naruto grinned, and nodded his head. "Okay, he's right in the living room."

Sakura walked ahead of him, and stood in the living room scoping out the place. When she stepped into the room though, everyone stopped and looked at her. Sakura kept her head up though, she's had nine months of this stupidity, and she wasn't going to let it get her down anymore. She noticed Kaori on Sasuke's lap (oddly), and though she contemplated whether to go through with her plan and give the gift to him, she would have looked pretty stupid just standing here doing nothing so she went through with it.

As she walked over to the couch, Sasuke avoided her gaze expecting that she was going to speak to him, but instead she sat right next to him.

"Hey Kaori!" Sakura said cheerfully, everyone still continued to stare at her though she were some foreign plant, and she could almost _feel _Hinata's resistance, but she continued.

Kaori, who by now, had spit all over Sasuke's face greeted a new dry face with enthusiasm.

"Sagura!" He squealed, instantly recognizing her. He ditched Sasuke and crawled on the couch over to Sakura, who had the gift beside her. But instead of going towards the gift he continued to Sakura and placed his palms on her bulging stomach.

"Oh, Kaori sto-" Naruto started heading towards the couch, but he stopped. Kaori wasn't being his usual destructive toddler self attempting to pop her belly like he thought he was, instead he was rubbing it with his tiny hands, a look of complete 'aw' all over his face.

"Baby," he whispered.

Naruto's mouth fell, and he glanced over at Hinata who looked at him with the same kind of surprise. Who told him babies come from girl's stomach?

Sakura nodded, "Yes, it's a baby." She held Kaori's hand and helped him trace her belly.

Kaori furrowed his eyebrows almost as if he was in deep concentration, "My friend." He placed one hand over his chest, looking at Sakura expectedly. Sakura's eyes widened tears filling them.

"Yes, he _will_ be your friend." She emphasized the 'will' almost as if she wanted everyone to know right now, that no matter _what_ they did, no matter _what _they said, this kid _will_ be born. And he _will _have friends, Kaori being number one.

Kaori smile grew and he scrambled off the couch running up to Naruto, "Daddy! My friend!" He said happily pointing to Sakura, who now had tears falling.

Naruto picked him up with huge grin on his face, "Yeah! Of course! He can be your best friend!" Naruto met Sakura's teary face and winked. "Just like me and his mom!"

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**End of Part II**

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**The final part of this chapter 15 trilogy will come out later this week (and it will be longer, don't fret), I guess…like usual…UNLESS, I get plenty of reviews…then who knows! It might come out earlier!**

**Omg and, Kasumi1100 Ah I loved ur REVIEW, so glad that ur reading my story again XD yay! **

**Haha**

**Reviews make my world go round!**

**xooreoxo **


	17. Chapter 15 Part III

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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_Sakura grinned mischievously as she slowly uncapped her black Sharpie. She had the most brilliant idea that anyone could ever have. And It all it involved was a Sharpie. _

_Sakura tiptoed to Sasuke's side of the bed with her sharpie ready in hand. The sun hadn't rose yet, but Sakura had to be up and ready for her day at the hospital, and luckily for her, it was Sasuke's turn for the annual ninja check. _

_Sakura crawled gently on top of him, her sharpie positioned right over his cursed mark. Sakura smirked, as Sasuke stirred but didn't wake. _

_That's the amazing thing about Sasuke; he sleeps like he's dead. _

_She placed her special Sharpie (that's only supposed to be used for industrial purposes) on top of his cursed mark and started drawing._

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_Sasuke yawned, as he slowly trudged through the halls of Konoha Hospital. It was his turn for the mandatory check-up, and he was completely not in the mood. Not that he had some creepy old maiden for his nurse, actually it was Sakura. Even though most guys usual fantasize about having a relationship with a totally hot nurse like Sakura, if he knew Sakura, which he does, he could almost guarantee that she would drag out this meeting way more than necessary. _

"_Damn it…" Sasuke half cursed, half yawned. It was way too early to be awake, and the hospital itself was basically deserted. He walked into the room he was assigned to, and nearly threw a fist into a certain persons face. _

_Sitting there was none other than Rock Lee half naked with Sakura gently caressing his lower abdomen. Technically, she was just examining it, but Rock Lee seemed to be enjoying it way more than he should._

"_Lee…I don't see this bump you're complaining off."_

"_Oh it is there! OW! Oh, the pain!" He cried out. Sakura way too delusional to notice his fib continued searching with true concern like the medic-nin she is. _

_Neither one of them had noticed Sasuke in the room, until he called himself out by clearing his throat._

_They both looked up with different expressions, Sakura with a smile (completely oblivious to his fury), and Lee glowered at him._

"_Hi Sasuke! I'd just be done in a few minutes." Sakura purposefully left out her special suffix for him since they were keeping up that whole charade about not being together. Sasuke frowned._

"_My appointments now."_

_Sakura blinked, since when did he get so eager? "I know, but Lee's complaining about serious pains in his lower abdomen."_

_Sasuke snorted, "Of course he is." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at first, but Lee didn't look frightened._

"_You are a health young lad. Please, let the less healthy be healed," Lee smiled at Sakura who continued putting pressure on his abdomen. _

"_You can get healed another time." Sasuke retorted, he dipped into his pocket and pulled out his appointment slip, "You're running over my time. Just take some medicine."_

_Sakura grinned, "That's a great idea! Lee, just go out to the hall to Shizune and she'll give you antibiotics for your condition." She patted him on the back encouragingly, but Lee frowned._

"_But, Sakura-chan! What if the medicine doesn't work, what if I die! What if-"_

"_You won't die." Sasuke interrupted already nudging Lee of the bed, and taking his place. So this is what Sakura does with her life all day? She feels up a bunch of perverted guys, totally turning them on? He didn't like that all._

_Lee grumbled something incoherently as he pulled on his green jump suit, and left the room with a slam. _

_Sakura let out a breath of relief, "Finally, Lee always overstays his visit." She let out a small laugh, and turned her back to sterilize her utensils. _

"_He wasn't in pain."_

"_Of course he was! Why would he lie?"_

"_So you could feel him up." Sasuke said in a bitter tone. Sakura laughed._

"_I don't think so, Sasuke-kun."_

_Sasuke stared at her and realized that she truly didn't believe that Lee was taking her altruism for granted. He decided he'd rather not burst her perfectly innocent bubbly world and just replied, "Hn."_

_Sakura looked at him curiously for a moment, but then just shrugged, "Okay remove your shirt." Sasuke did what he was told, and pulled his navy shirt over his head and tossed it to the side. Sakura almost fainted. Even though she was so used to his whole physique, it was still a breath taker to see his body._

"_Don't drool." Sasuke smirked. She laughed and shoved him jokingly on the chest._

"_Whatever Sasuke-kun," Sakura placed the stethoscope on his chest but then her eye's caught something on his neck. "Oh my!" She screamed removing the stethoscope in alarm._

_Sasuke flinched away from her, "What?" _

_Sakura pointed her hand at his neck, her fingers shaking, "your mark!" Her eyes started watering up, almost as if her fear was causing her to cry. Sasuke felt his heart throb in his chest by just the mere look on her face, was she afraid of him? I mean it was to be expected, he did almost obliterate her some months ago due to this same mark. _

_But, he was hoping maybe she'd forgiven him for that. That she was 'over' it. _

_Sasuke picked up a small mirror from Sakura's utensils that she had just laid out, and used it to examine his cursed mark. He almost dropped it when he saw what it was. Instead of it being completely terrifying and disfigured like he assumed it was going to be, instead someone had drawn a huge heart around it, and had an arrow indicating it. The person even had the nerve to sign "4rm Orochimaru XOXO"._

_Sasuke placed the mirror down and glared at Sakura, who by now had busted out laughing on the floor. _

"_Oh my! You should have seen the look on your face!" Sakura laughter halted, so she could do the imitation of Sasuke when he thought his cursed mark had gotten worse. Sasuke groaned, and Sakura continued laughing._

"_You shouldn't pull shit like that."_

"_I know! I know!" Sakura hiccupped tears still falling from her eyes, "but it was just so hard to resist!" Sasuke ignored her, and chose to just forgiver her absurdity. He picked up the hospital's album that contained all the children that were born in that specific year's photo. Luckily for him the one that was left here was his generation. Even though almost everyone has gone through these pictures backwards and forwards at one time of their stay here in Konoha, it still couldn't hurt to look. _

_Sakura stood up, wiping the tears from her face, and gave him a quick kiss on the head. "You're such a good sport!"_

"_I'm ignoring you." He flipped through the album, landing on Shino's picture and stared at it for a while. Could babies really be born with sunglasses?_

"_Oh, Sasuke-kun!"_

"_..."_

"_Sasuke-kun please? I'm sorry!"_

"…"

"_Are you just going to ignore me forever?"_

"…"

"_You won't be able to, you know that right?"_

"…"

_Sakura smiled evasively as she climbed on top of the bed straddling his hips. _

"_Huh? Sasuke-kun?" she purred her lips up close to his. She traced her index finger on his bare chest; she knew she must have been turning him on. She knew it. _

_Sasuke just looked at her and smirked, "Was Shino born with sunglasses?"_

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"…_**You don't get another chance; life is no Nintendo game…"**_

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Chapter 15 Part III

"SASUKE!" Sasuke groaned as he heard a repetitive banging at his door. He was lying on his couch in stingy bland clothes. Even though it was roughly two in the morning so it should be acceptable for him to be in this position, he'd been in that exact same position since morning. He didn't know what he was going through was dramatic enough to be considered 'depression', or 'insanity. Was there a difference? Was one more radical than the other? Did he even care?

"SASUKE-TEME!"

"It's opened." Sasuke groaned from the couch. Wasn't he the same one that used to lecture Sakura about leaving the door unlocked?

Naruto followed his heed and barged through the door. "SASUKE-TEME! What are you still doing here?"

Sasuke yawned, "Sleeping." Naruto walked over to the couch and kicked his chest. Sasuke sat up fuming, his eyes turning red. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"No, what the fuck is your problem!" Naruto shouted, he grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards him. "Why aren't you there?"

Sasuke growled and pried his hands off his shirt. He stood up and brushed some crumbs from only God knows where, off his pants. "I don't even know what you talking about. Why aren't I where?"

Naruto blinked, "You mean you don't know?"

"Obviously not."

Naruto's blue eyes narrowed at him, almost as if he suspected him of lying. But when he noticed that Sasuke still stared at him with a somewhat blank expression, he knew he wasn't lying. He sighed, and brushed his hands through his hair, "Sakura is in labor."

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If someone told you that giving birth is the most wonderful experience anyone woman could ever go through…they are fucking lying.

Sakura twisted her neck, sweat drenching her entire attire. She had been in labor for about five hours now, and she didn't know whether the pain she was feeling was supposed to be considered normal or not. Tsunade had already drugged her with 'pain killers', but they weren't working. Instead they only intensified the pain…or did it? She didn't know, actually she couldn't care. All she knows is that she was in pain, and she wanted it to end.

She felt a cool towel be placed on her forehead, and opened her eyes lazily to see her former best friend smiling at her. Ino Yamanaka.

Could she say she was surprised when Ino walked through her hospital room doors ready to help, even though she spent the last nine months completely ignoring her? Hell yeah, it was shocking. And even more shocking when Hinata walked in shortly after her, with an apologetic look on her face. Sakura couldn't really blame her for her backstabbing act; I mean if there were rumors about _her_ best friend getting pregnant with _her_ husband, she'd get pretty pissed as well.

"_No one should go through this by themselves." Ino had stated, while she poured her a glass of water. Hinata had nodded in agreement._

"_H-hai, it is true. You were there for me when Kaori was born, so it's only right I should be here for you." _

Now Sakura could only feebly smile back at Ino, as she attempted to lower her crazy fever.

"Hinata is this supposed to this tedious?" Ino asked her, looking scared.

Hinata bit her bottom lip in response. When she gave birth, obviously the pain was horrible, but it wasn't _this _bad.

Sakura, panic stricken, held gripped Hinata's hand harder. Her green eyes widen as another wave of contractions hit her, causing her back to arch. Tsunade stood by her heart monitor, eyeing it cautiously.

"If this goes on for much longer, we might have to go under a C section."

Sakura frowned; she didn't want to give birth that way. She wanted to do it the normal way. But, it wasn't like she had much choice at this time. She glanced at the clock, her vision becoming blurry as more waves of pain hit her.

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Sasuke barged through the double doors, and into the waiting room. It didn't take him long to get ready and head to the hospital after Naruto informed him what was going on. He was still unbearably pissed at her, and found this whole situation uncomfortable, but to not be there when she gave birth? That didn't sit well in his mind.

So he went.

And as he stepped into the waiting room, he noticed he wasn't the only one. Almost everyone he knew, and some people he didn't even recognize where huddled there. Most of them were guys, including Kakashi, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru and Shino.

When he walked in, some glanced in his direction, others did not. It wasn't that big of a deal to them that he was here; after all they didn't know how deep his relationship was with her. How could they?

"Hey you're back." Kakashi called out. Naruto nodded his head at him, and went over to Kaori who was sleeping peacefully on Shino's lap.

"He didn't wake." Shino said handing over Kaori to Naruto. Naruto smiled gratefully and took a seat next to him, while Sasuke sat beside him.

"How's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Shino turned his head and casted his attention towards the delivery room. "Ino came out and said that there might be some difficulty. So it might take a little longer than we all anticipated."

Naruto felt Sasuke shift besides him. Was Sasuke happy that the baby might not be able to be delivered, or was he nervous? He really couldn't tell.

"How much longer?" Naruto puzzled.

"I don't know."

Sasuke listened to their conversation and felt his palms becoming sweaty, and in order to hide his nervousness from the group, he picked up one of the Konoha baby albums that were scattered on the coffee table. He picked him up, and coincidentally it was the one with his generation in it.

When he opened it, oddly, it landed on the picture of him and the one besides his was Naruto's picture (even though he wasn't born at this hospital).

Naruto leaned over Sasuke's shoulder and let out a soft chuckle. Everyone looked at him, slightly startled by his outburst of laughter. Even Sasuke turned and looked at him curiously.

Naruto grinned in response, "Look at your baby chicken hair."

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"PUSH!" Ino screamed.

Sakura shook her head as her entire body shuddered. Either this kid was fucking obese, or it just didn't want to come out. Tsunade bared her teeth. If Sakura didn't deliver this baby right now, both their lives could be in jeopardy.

"Sakura! Do what Ino says!" Tsunade ordered. Sakura bit her bottom lip, and closed her eyes, pushing as hard as she could. She fell back, her chest rising, tearing up a bit. What if she couldn't do this? What if the baby doesn't come out?

_What if I die while doing this?_

Who will take care of the baby then? _Who?_

With this thought running through her head, she sat back up and used all her strength to push as hard as she could.

"O-oh, I see its head!" Hinata exclaimed. "S-Sakura! Keep going!"

She clenched her jaw, and literally pushed till she thought she was going to explode. Then the most amazing thing happened. Her body went rigid as numbness captivated her entire body, her back arched, and her fingers grasped the sheets. Her mind went blank, and there was an annoying ringing noise in her ear. If one word could explain this incredible sensation it would be…

…Painful.

She could almost _feel_ the baby's tiny claws resistance her pushing; its tiny fingers scraping the inside of her womb. If she wasn't mistaken, she could feel it kicking as well, _fighting_. Sakura let out a shrilling scream that caused Hinata to step back in fear. Was she giving birth to freaking demon, or what?

The room went silent after Sakura's cries seized. Ino actually thought she was dead, but the constant rise in her chest made her think otherwise.

"Oh my," She heard Tsunade cry. She looked over Sakura's legs, and surprisingly saw that Tsunade had already delivered the silent baby. Of course it was covered in blood, and its umbilical cord was still attached to its mother, but it wasn't crying…and…

"Oh my gosh!" Ino screamed.

This too alarmed Hinata to take a quick look at the baby, and when she did she flung her hand over mouth. Her body started quivering. Sakura, though she wasn't completely in a clear state of mind, wasn't delirious either, and she knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" She whimpered. She was way too weak lift her head up, so she called out, but no one answered.

"What i_s _it!" She repeated.

"I don't' see how this is possible…" Tsunade muttered.

"I KNEW it! I fucking KNEW it!" Ino shouted kicking stuff around. "How could- UGH!"

"…"

"HELLO!" This time Sakura shouted, her voice filled with panic. Were they not going to show her, her own freaking baby? Was it deformed? Was its mouth where its eyes should have been?

Was it a hermaphrodite?

Did it have Down syndrome?

Did it have any form of mental retardation?

Could babies actually be born with glasses? If so, did it have Kabuto's glasses?

_**Was it dead!**_

But, all she could see was Tsunade shaking her head slowly, and turning her back on Sakura, completely blocking her view of the baby.

"Tsunade-sama…" she whimpered.

"He's alive." Tsunade replied not turning her head. "He's alive."

_He?_ Sakura thought, she let out a sigh. She had a son. A living breathing son…but why was everyone freaking out? And, as on cue, Ino ran out the room her anger too much to hold within herself.

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"_**Hush little baby, don't say a word…"**_

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Sasuke looked up, and so did the heads of many, as Ino came barging out the delivery room fuming.

"Ino!" Naruto shouted, but then quickly remembered that Kaori was still sleeping, "How is she?"

Ino snapped her head at him, grabbing her purse from Shikamaru's hands. "She's fine. It's fine. Everything is just fucking fine!"

"Whoa…" Shikamaru said startled at her anger. "What's wrong?"

Ino ignored him, but muttered something about hating being 'used' and barged her way through Sasuke without saying excusing herself. Sasuke faltered backwards, his eyes on her. Since when did Ino get this angry?

She slammed the exit door shut, leaving some shocked looks behind.

Shikamaru sighed and stood up, heading after her. Naruto, out of curiosity, handed Kaori back over to Shino, who looked rather complacent in this situation, and headed towards the emergency room. Kakashi grabbed his sleeve before he entered though.

"What are you-"

"She's my best friend. I got to see if she's alright." Kakashi stared at him for a moment longer, and then smiled behind his mask.

"Let's go."

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Sakura held her son in her arms, and even though Ino had run out in complete hysterics, Hinata refused to look at her, and Tsunade completely absorbed in running her calculations over again in her head, she had never felt so blissful in her entire life.

"Sakura…you know this doesn't make any sense…it shouldn't look like that."

Sakura ignored her though, and cuddled him in her arms. "I don't care."

"You should. Do you have any idea how the village is going to react?" Tsunade argued. "I think we should dye its hair…or something because it looks just way too much like-"

But she never got to finish her sentence, because all of a sudden Sakura's room was invaded by visitors, with Naruto and Kakashi in the lead.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted running up to her. Kakashi slowly followed his pace, but stopped when he saw the child in Sakura's arms. Following his astonishment, he could hear all the soft gasps from the people behind him, and silent murmurs captivated the entire room. Naruto himself even let out a little squeal of surprise.

"Hi guys…" Sakura started awkwardly, somewhat shielding her son from the nearly angry mob. No one responded except for Naruto.

"He…" he started. "…he has baby chicken hair."

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"_**And the cats and the cradle and the silver spoon…"**_

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The waiting room was empty, and with that emptiness, it just left Sasuke and his thoughts. What was he going to do? Was he going to go in there and pretend that he's accepted this child since he_ did_ have nine months to get used to the idea…or continue acting aloof? It was such a sticky situation that he couldn't just 'sharigan' himself out of.

"Why are you still here?"

Sasuke literally jumped at the sound of that eerie voice. Oh yeah, Shino was still here and he was still holding Kaori.

"What are _you _still here?" Sasuke retorted. Since when did Shino feel the need to get all up and personal in his business? Shino shrugged.

"Why are any of us here?"

"…"

"But, specifically speaking, she is your teammate. I thought you had overcome your fear."

"Fear of what?"

"Fear of your bonds."

"What do _you_ know about me?"

Shino bent his head cryptically, "The question is: What don't I know about you?"

Sasuke shied himself away from him, completely thrown off guard. He was about to respond when the doors opened again, but this time with a bit more urgency than before.

"WHERE IS HE?"

And before Sasuke could even breathe, someone had thrown a rock hard punch at his stomach, sending him spiraling onto the ground. His arm twisted underneath him as he landed harshly. He slowly got up but realized that the knock had literally left his wheezing for air.

He gagged onto the floor, his vision slightly disorientated. "Kakashi…" he muttered. Kakashi quickly raised him off the ground, grabbing his hair.

"How the dare you fucking touch her?" Sasuke squinted his eyes; what was he talking about? And why was he so freaking angry for? It sounded like he would have spit on him if he wasn't wearing that damn mask. "After all the shit you've put as through! _**How dare you**_!" Kakashi threw him against the wall.

Now, don't be confused. Sasuke's no weak lad. But to say he was completely thrown off guard was an understatement. He slowly stood up and wiped the blood that dripped down the corner of his mouth.

'_What?' _

Suddenly, Naruto came rushing into the room, and nudged his way through the now enlarging crowd. But instead of helping Sasuke out, he stared at him almost as if he were _disgusted_ by the mere look of him.

"How could you?" He whispered. He had completely trusted this guy, backed his sorry ass so many times that it didn't even make sense to him why he even does it in the first place. "Why would you lie to me, of all people?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched, were these people fucking retarded? "I don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto glowered at him and grabbed the Konoha album and tossed at his feet. The book magically flipped open to the Sasuke's baby picture.

"What?" Sasuke asked puzzled. Was _that_ supposed to answer his question? An album? Sasuke looked up, still confused, and was surprised to have noticed that all of Sakura's visitors were either giving him disappointed looks, or weren't even looking at him in the eye. Some just looked like they were _afraid_ of him.

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye, "Explain to me, no to all of us, why Sakura's son looks exactly you."

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**O Em Gee. Am I not amazed by how many reviews I got last chapter! What, do we have some Kaori fans up in here or what? Oh, and some of you guys are pretty good at guessing the plot…but if you think you've got it…not yet. You only got half of the whole big secrecy behind this baby! So keep guessing! When one of you guy get it…you'll get a lil candy bar XD. Review!**

**Reviews SO make my world go round!**

**XOOREOXO.**


	18. Chapter 16

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

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"_Sasuke-kunn…"_

"_Hn?"_

"_Sasuke-kunnnn…"_

"_What?"_

"_Sasuke-kunnnnnn!"_

"_What!" Sasuke snapped. _

_Sakura looked up at him and smiled, "Hi." _

_They were watching what they called their 'Friday Night Movie' at his house. Sakura had made herself quite comfortable in a pair of his clothes, and snuggled herself against him. _

"_Don't be childish." Sasuke scolded. He dipped his hands in the popcorn bowl, and tossed a few in his mouth. Sakura pouted. "Aren't you going to pick out a movie?" He asked her nudging her off his shoulder. Sakura sighed, and stood up. _

"_What do you want to watch?"_

"_I don't care."_

"_You have to pick something."_

"_No I don't."_

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

"_Sakura."_

_Sakura groaned and rolled her eyes. She flicked through the movie collection that Naruto had brought over a few days ago. After a few minutes, she finally made a decision and popped the DVD in. She scampered back to the coach and laid her head on Sasuke's shoulder._

"_What are we watching?" He asked his mouth half full of overly buttered popcorn._

"_Life as You Know It." _

_Sasuke groaned._

"_What? You don't want to watch it?"_

"_No."_

"_Then why didn't you say something!" Sakura demanded sitting up. Seriously Sasuke could be so frustrating at times._

"_How could I have said something, if I didn't know you were going to pick that?" Sasuke retorted. _

"_Well! Sasuke-kun-!" Sakura started, but through her frustration she couldn't finish her sentence. She hardly ever got fed up, or frustrated with him. It was such a weird feeling._

"_There's no need to be childish."_

"_!"_

"_Just change the movie." Sasuke said nonchalantly and he carelessly put popcorn in his mouth. _

"_You can't be serious…" Sakura muttered as she stood up gathering her stuff. She kicked Sasuke's leg that was resting on the coffee table so she could walk by._

"_Where are you going?"_

"_Home." She grabbed her purse from his kitchen counter, and headed to the door not facing him._

"_Really?"_

_Sakura hesitated at the door, was he going to say he was sorry for being such a spoiled jerk? That would be a first; Sasuke never apologizes for anything unless he's done serious __**physical **__damage. _

"_Don't take my shirt out, I'm wearing it tomorrow." _

_Sakura balled her fist, and quickly turned her heel to face him. Sasuke looked up from the T.V. to see a fuming Sakura standing before him. With her monstrous strength, she tore his shirt right off her body and threw the shreds at him._

"_What the fu-"_

"_Take your stupid shirt!" She spat. She stomped her way back to the door and slammed it with such force that cracks appeared in his wall. Sasuke sat there dumbfounded; did Sakura actually slam the door at his face? Could she do that? Wasn't that against the law? _

"_Whatever." Sasuke said out loud picking pieces of his former shirt from his popcorn. He didn't care if she was pissed at him. He's Sasuke fucking Uchiha; all the girls come back to him. Except…_

'_She just left without a shirt on.'_

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_Two hours Later_

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_Three hours Later_

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_Four hours Later_

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_Six hours later_

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_A whole freaking day later_

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_Sasuke chewed the inside of his cheek bitterly. Sakura had actually gone against all odds and refused to talk to him. The first few minutes, he totally expected it…but hours later…a whole day, and she hasn't talked to him, he couldn't deal with it. Though he wouldn't admit it. He picked up a tin of canned tomatoes, since he was at the grocery store. Usually Sakura does his groceries for him, but you know that arrangement wasn't working out right now. _

"_And then Shikamaru was like 'that's so troublesome' and then I was like, 'you're so troublesome' and then he was like 'I'm going cloud watching' and I was like, 'sure whatever'…"_

_Sasuke heard the familiar babble of Ino Yamanaka in the aisle next to his. Her voice was so irritating and bubbly that it actually made his eyes water, but it was the voice that responded that made him freeze. _

'_Ino-pig! You know Shikamaru, that's just how he is." _

_Sasuke's heart jumped, when he heard them both giggle all girly-like. Sakura was right there at the aisle next to his, should he go over there? Should he go ask her if she's okay? What if she bluntly ignores him and he ends up looking like a fool? What would he-_

"_Oh! Sasuke-Kun!"_

"_**Fuck…" **_

"_Ino." Sasuke greeted in his usual monotone voice. He glanced over at Sakura who was staring back at him. She was wearing a blue spaghetti strapped shirt that he'd bought for her, and her own jeans mini skirt. "Sakura."_

"_Hey." She said simply, playing with the hem of her dress. It wasn't unusual that they'd play up this act of 'oh-I-don't-know-you', they often do it when they run into each other at places. But, this time was different. _

"_Sasuke-kun! You're so lucky that you ran into us!" Ino exclaimed. She held up her basket that was filled with junk food and hot pink items. "I'm throwing a party! With hookers and everything!"_

_Sasuke blinked, "Not interested."_

"_Aww! I mean I know they're male strippers, but you don't have to get a lap dance by one if you don't want to." Ino walked over to him, and placed her pointer finger on his chest. "It won't be a party without your cute tight butt there!"_

_Sasuke chose to ignore the latter part of her sentence, "Ino I said no." Ino pouted, but then gave up. _

"_Okay, whatever you say Sasuke-kun, but Billboard-brow and I have to get ready!" Ino grabbed Sakura's hand, but then she felt a tug at the other end of Sakura. She looked up and noticed that Sasuke had a pretty strong grip on her. _

"_You're going?" He directed his conversation right at Sakura, who was looking back at him in slight shock. Did Sasuke break one of his own rules, 'no physical contact in public?' Sakura quickly snapped her hand out of his grasp and rubbed it cautiously._

"_Yes."_

_Sasuke frowned, "A party with male strippers?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Why?"_

_Ino looked back and forth between them, slightly puzzled. "Duh! Sasuke-kun, our little cherry blossom is going to get herself laid!" She laughed at her own joke, but Sasuke didn't even move a single funny bone. _

"_Ino!" Sakura shouted, her face heating up. She was still pissed at Sasuke, and she wouldn't be satisfied until he learned to say sorry, but she didn't want to sound like she's forgotten all about him. And she __**did not **__want to get laid. Ino giggled, and grabbed Sakura's hand again._

"_Sasuke-kun, we'll see you later!" She dragged her to the check-out, while Sasuke stood there with his basket full of canned tomatoes. _

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_Sakura sat on her bed, lacing up her boots. Ino had insisted that they wear somewhat similar outfits to the party. And with Ino that was a huge risk. She was wearing the pink version, of a corset that was made into a skimpy dress. It had black lace outlining them bottom of the dress and a giant black bow in the back. Her hair was tied up, Ino-style, in a high pink ponytail. Honestly, she thought she looked pretty hot, but she felt uncomfortable. It wasn't that she couldn't completely pull of the dress, because she could, but Sasuke wasn't going to be there. And usually, the only reason she'd ever want to dress like that is to tease Sasuke at these kind of social gatherings, but instead she's going to have a bunch of creepy men that take of their clothes as a career stare at her with bulging eyes. _

"_Hey."_

_Sakura jumped from her bed, and turned around to see Sasuke squatting on her window sill. Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest. _

"_What are you doing here?" She said defiantly, even though her heart was literally running around from joy inside her chest. Sasuke ignored her question though and leaped into her room, eyeing her outfit cautiously. His jaw clenched._

"_A bit early for Halloween."_

_Sakura rolled her eyes, and turned back to her mirror adjusting her bow. "You know I'm going to Ino's party."_

"_Don't go."_

_Sakura's heart stopped running and dropped dead. She turned to face him and he had avoided her gaze and was staring at the floor, his hands bashfully in his pockets. _

_She swallowed, "Why?"_

"…_."_

"_Why don't you want me to go?" She repeated. "You don't appreciate me when I'm around, so if I go what's the big deal?"_

_Sakura saw Sasuke open his mouth slightly, but then he closed it firmly shut again. She furrowed her eyebrows; obviously he was still the biggest douchebag in the world. She grabbed her purse from her bed, and reached for her door._

"_Sorry."_

_Sakura turned her head, and Sasuke was actually staring her in the eye. He had that gorgeous smirk that she loved so much, but this time it wasn't meant for teasing purposes, it was almost apologetic. _

"_I didn't-didn't mean to-" Sasuke sounded slightly strangled trying to get the words out. He hasn't had that much practice apologizing. Sakura smiled softly at him, she walked to him and placed her arms around his neck. _

"_Apology accepted." Sakura kissed him briefly and pulled away. She turned her back and headed towards her door._

"_Where are you going?"_

_Sakura looked at him confused, "Ino's party. Did you forget?"_

_Sasuke snorted walking over towards her bedroom door and shutting it. "You were never going to that party." He snatched her purse and tossed it on the floor. _

"_Sasuke-kun! You can't do that, I'd already promised Ino! And I'm all dressed up and-" Sasuke kissed her so that'd she'd shut up. He pulled her close, and silently promised himself that he wouldn't let her go again._

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"_**Half of my heart got a grip on the situation…"**_

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**Chapter Sixteen**

Sasuke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring from the picture to Kakashi and back again.

_"Explain to me, no to all of us, why Sakura's son looks exactly you."_

Was that supposed to a trick question?

But before Kakashi and who knows who else bombarded him again, Tsunade rushed out of from the delivery room, a deep indent in the middle of her eyebrows.

"Don't you DARE fight in my hospital!" She shouted. She glowered at Kakashi and the rest of the villagers who shied away. "Everyone besides close family and friends should leave RIGHT now!" She ordered. People with hushed murmurs gathered their stuff and slowly trickled out of the room, leaving Tsunade with Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Sasuke and…

"Shino?" Tsunade stared at him, but decided to argue anymore than she needed. How much harm could Shino do just sitting there with a sleeping toddler on his lap? Sasuke brushed himself up from the floor, avoiding Naruto and Kakashi's deadly looks.

"Sasuke," Tsunade called out. She held her palm out and ushered him towards her. "Let's go. I want you to see something."

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Sakura sat on her bed, her nameless infant cradled in her arms. She couldn't bring herself to name him yet; it was just too hard to pick the perfect name since he looked so much like a…_Sasuke_. It was eerie, he had the same skin tone, same birth mark on his lower back, exact same physical features…_everything_. And another way he's so much like him…he hadn't made a single sound. His navy eyes jittered around, just like how newborns do. He drank milk, and spent his time opening and closing his miniature fists. But he hadn't cried, or made any baby noises.

Sakura held him closer to her chest. She knew he wasn't mute, for Tsunade had already run some tests, his larynx and all that stuff was still perfect. It was almost as if he_ chose_ not to speak. She bit her bottom lip, nervously.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked up, and noticed Tsunade had come back but this time, with Sasuke. Sasuke stood awkwardly there for a moment or so, not quite sure if he was allowed to go up close and take a better look at this child that somehow looked so much like him.

"Sakura, I brought Sasuke." She looked at Sasuke who stared out the window, and she sighed. It was quite obvious that Sasuke was not going to say anything in her presence, so she slightly excused herself to the lab room to run more tests on the child's DNA.

Once she left, Sasuke slightly narrowed his eyes at Sakura. She stared back at him, her eyes completely void of any emotion recognizable to him.

He cleared his throat, "They say that it-or he looks like-"

"Come see." Sakura interrupted him, she smiled warmly at him. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, but walked up to her. He leaned over the bed and stared at the kid that was staring back at him with…the _same exact eyes._

Sasuke's breath got hitched in his throat.

"How-?"

"We don't know," Sakura whispered staring back at her child. "It's a complete puzzle."

Sasuke nodded weakly. "I understand why everyone's so angry with me."

Sakura blinked, "They're angry _at _you?"

"They think I impregnated you." Sasuke glanced at her. "They think I left you once you got pregnant."

Sakura's mouth dropped, "But, Sasuke-kun! You'd never do that!" He shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. What else was new? The universe just had a problem with him being happy. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I'll go fix this." She started to slide off the bed, but Sasuke held his hand up in front of him, stopping her.

"No. Don't." Sakura's mouth opened to protest, but Sasuke continued. "Besides, a human just came out of you; I seriously doubt you're supposed to be walking around."

"But, Sasuke-kun, I don't want you to be burdened by me…" she whispered softly. Sasuke involuntarily ran his hands through her soft pink hair.

"I'm used to that by now." He gave her a soft smirk, and Sakura hesitated for a while, but smiled back at him. The baby fussed silently in her arms, and Sakura gently rocked him in her arms. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"He hasn't cried."

"I know he won't…"

Sasuke swallowed, his heart speeding up. "Is he mute?" He asked in a hushed tone. Even though it would have been undetectable to anyone else, Sakura heard the panic in his voice.

"No, he just doesn't want to I guess."

Sasuke swallowed his face becoming very pale. He suddenly grabbed the bedside table for balance, and Sakura stared at him slightly alarmed.

"Sasuke-kun! What's wrong…?"

Sasuke shook his head gently, attempting to block out a resurfacing memory.

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"_**Like I'm the only girl in the world…cause I'm the only one who understands..."**_

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_**Flashback**_

"_Brother!" Sasuke cried out as Itachi walked through the doors of his childhood home. It was late in afternoon and he'd just been itching for Itachi to come home from school. He ran towards the door and gave his brother a huge smile, jumping up and down giddily. "Brother, I have to show you something!"_

_Itachi smiled softly at his younger brother's enthusiasm and let him drag him towards him room. _

"_Brother! I wrote a story!" Sasuke said happily, he climbed up his bed and grabbed the book he's been working on all day. Itachi patiently sat down on the floor, a soft smile on his face. _

_Sasuke's smile grew as he sat down and he opened the book, "Once upon a time there were two prince brothers that had everything they wanted. They were so rich that everyone was angry with them and tried to attack the bigger brother! But they couldn't because the strong little prince fought off all those evil jealous fat citizens and everyone was happy! The big brother was so happy that he made a giant cake for his little brother, and promised to never go to school again and play games with him all day!" Sasuke said the whole story in one long breath._

_Itachi chuckled and was about to respond when their mother came in._

"_Sasuke-kun, leave your brother alone so he can do his homework!" She scolded softly but with authority. Sasuke's smile suddenly turned into a frown and he could feel tears forming in his eyes. Itachi always had to do his homework, and never go to play with him. Itachi looked apologetically at him, and poked his forehead._

"_I'll play with you later, I promise." He said as he slowly stood up and walked out of the room. Sasuke sadly stood up and placed his story back under his pillow. His mother watched him sadly and placed the laundry basket on the floor._

"_Sasuke-kun, come here."_

_Sasuke blew out a hot breath that fluttered his bangs, and reluctantly crawled on his mother's lap. She smiled at him, and poked his nose._

"_It's so strange how the world works."_

"_Why?" Sasuke asked while his mom tried to flatten those crazy spikes on his head he calls his hair. _

_She smiled, "Did you know when you were born you never talked?"_

_Sasuke giggled, "Duh mother, babies don't talk."_

"_No sweetie, I mean you didn't cry, whimper, nothing."_

"_Really? Why?" _

_She shrugged, "I don't know. I just remember one day I was in the kitchen, and when I came back you were laughing, and talking to your brother."_

"_Itachi?"_

"_Yes you were about three years old then. Just talking away, like you've been talking for fifty years." She laughed at her own joke. "The bond that you two have is so strong, that I don't know at times whether that's good, or bad."_

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Naruto held Hinata's hand as they watched their son play with the hospital children toys. Honestly, he wasn't even watching, his mind was too wrapped up around the fact that Sasuke had actually lied to him. He fucking slept with Sakura, knocked her up, then made her cover for him!

What asshole does stuff like that?

He barred his teeth, and he felt Hinata brush the back of his palm with her gentle finger. When he glanced at her, she was gently smiling at him. "D-do not beat yourself up for his mistake."

Naruto nodded, but still felt his anger rise. When he saw Sasuke he was going to go nine tailed fox on his ass.

Suddenly the doors opened again, and Sasuke strolled out. Kakashi glanced at him, and leaned himself off the wall.

"So, Sasuke, is there something you would like to say to us?" Kakashi's tone was cold and harsh, and Sasuke could feel everyone that was left just boring their eyes at him. He was so sure that whatever 'friends' he had before, he sure did not have them right now. But he knew better than to respond to Kakashi's question and in order for his plan to perfectly, he had to make it believable. So he ignored Kakashi, and stared straight into daggering blue eyes. He closed his eyes, and let out a deep breath.

"Hisoka is my son."

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"_**I don't want to be friends…"**_

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The room was darkly lit, with a single dry slice of cake that was placed on dirty box. Kabuto, smirked as the last petal fell from the gray cherry blossom tree outside. He pierced his skin and when the murky red liquid appeared on his cold arm, he dipped his finger in it. He walked over to the calendar and circled July 12th. He trudged back towards the cake and blew the candle.

His smile grew sardonically, "Happy birthday son."

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**Holy crap! I know, Sasuke has some guts to be naming someone else's child! HAHA, when my little sister read this she was like "What? Did he just name Sakura's child?"**

**Haha, but yes, yes he did. And his name is Hisoka which means; according to my Google Chrome it means secrets. Which I think is so perfect for him! And holy moly, thank you guys for the reviews! They make me so happy! And THEY actually do keep me motivated in this story…**

**SO REVIEWS MAKE MY WORLD GO ROUND **

**xooreoxo**


	19. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto**

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**Chapter Seventeen**

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"Holy shit!" Kisame shouted. He slammed the newspaper on their flimsy coffee table. Itachi casually raised his eyes to stare at it.

"What is it?" He murmured. They were in their murky lair on a brief vacation away from their tedious Akatsuki missions. Itachi secretly hoped that he being in one location would help Sasuke find him quicker, but obviously Sasuke was preoccupied with something else.

"You would not believe what's in the Akatsuki Daily today!"

"…"

"…!"

"…"

"Aren't you going to guess?"

"No." Itachi sipped his black tea.

Kisame laughed hoarsely, "It wouldn't even matter if you wanted to guess this, 'cause you wouldn't be able to!"

"Kisame, what are you talking about?"

"Dude, that foolish brother of yours has a _**kid**_!"

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_**FLASHBACK**_

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Sasuke chewed his meal mechanically. The meat he was eating tasted bland and hard, but what could he do? He was fifteen years old and in the process of training to become stronger. To become stronger meant that he could defeat Itachi. And if order to complete that goal, he had to spend some few years training with Orochimaru…well then that's what he had to do.

"Eat your vegetables Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru advised. Sasuke grunted and purposefully used his arms to knock the plate onto the floor.

"Oops." He smirked mockingly, and stood up knocking the chair down.

"Sasuke, don't speak to Orochimaru-sama that way!" Kabuto ordered. This kid was such a spoiled brat.

"Shut up." Sasuke growled, his eyes flashing red. He walked out of the room heatedly and slammed the door, causing Orochimaru's wine glass to shatter.

"Oh my," Orochimaru said. He looked at Kabuto, "I think we have to do something about Sasuke-kun's temper."

Kabuto nodded in agreement, "We should. He's getting out of hand." He lifted his glasses off the rim of his nose with his finger. "We should have a back-up plan."

Orochimaru raised a single eyebrow.

Kabuto smirked, "I have an idea"

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Sasuke lay on his rough bed, the chill breeze in his room coming from the tiny window in the upper corner of his dim room. He lay without blankets though, his once soft twelve year old body, was now hard and calloused. It wasn't like he didn't _want_ a blanket…he did, but then it oddly reminded him of something…or someone else.

"**Sasuke-kun! You can share my blanket with me!"**

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the thought. Her voice had become dimmer in his mind…but not just hers either. Naruto's, Kakashi's…everyone. Just like how his mother's voice couldn't be recalled in his mind…soon theirs wouldn't be either.

"Sasuke." He heard Kabuto call out. His jaw clenched, what was this bastard doing in his room?

"Sasuke I need something from you."

"What?" Sasuke hissed, without facing him. He heard Kabuto creep closer.

"Hair."

This time Sasuke turned to look at him with the most incredulous look he could muster. "Hair?" He ran his hands through his hair, questionably. "What do you want with it?"

Kabuto shrugged, "Testing. You know how's there's blood testing, well I'm just added your hair type to our database system." Sasuke stared at him doubtfully for a moment, but decided there could be no harm in just giving him a_ single _strand of hair, so that's what he did. Sasuke reached for the front of his hair and pulled out a couple of strands for Kabuto.

"Take it, and don't bother me again."

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_**A Few Years Later…**_

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Tara barged into Orochimaru's office and saw that Orochimaru was drinking tea calmly with Kabuto.

"Orochimaru-sama! Sasuke-sama has been gone for over three days now!" She called out, panic in her voice. She was technically the overseer of Sasuke's well being, but recently Sasuke had claimed to go out for training, and just never returned. She thought maybe after one or two days, he'd come back, but the third day was now turning into the fourth, and it was so unlikely for Sasuke to be late like this.

"We know." Kabuto smiled, sipping some tea. Tara blinked, slightly baffled.

"I don't think you understand, I do not think Sasuke-sama _will _return." But her statement went unheard, as Orochimaru stood up and looked outside, a pink cherry blossom tree blew in the breeze from a distance.

"Kabuto."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama?"

"I heard it's very hard to destroy the will of a cherry blossom."

"The will?" Kabuto blinked now staring at the tree as well. What was this guy getting at? They both continued to stare at the tree as the wind bristled through its leaves.

"The bark, the will, they're interchangeable, don't you think?" Orochimaru hissed, his yellow tinted eyes glinting viciously.

Kabuto stared blankly at him, "I don't get-"

"I've found a new vessel."

Kabuto's eyes widened, "Orochimaru-sama, I-I just meant that for _back-up_, I didn't intend-"

Orochimaru stood up, closing the window with his slimy pink tongue. He slugged his way towards the door, and turned back to look at a completely bewildered Tara, and an awestricken Kabuto, "It's _**time**_." With that he closed the door firmly behind him, locking Tara and Kabuto in the office.

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Tara shifted uncomfortably as an awkward moment passed between the two. She cleared her throat and pathetically smiled without the support of her two front teeth.

"I'll be going now." She bowed respectively and headed towards the door, but Kabuto firmly grasped her wrist. She looked back at him, slightly puzzled. "Is there something the matter?" She asked. Kabuto smirked, and leaned in closer to her,

"I just want this time to be…_us_." He whispered the last bit with such lust that the erotic sense of it she could feel it dripping onto her neck.

"Kab-buto-sama?" She whispered in a husked tone, her knees buckling. She stared at him with her solemn blue eyes, never before feeling such an emotion as strong like this. She's always harbored feelings for Kabuto, and she had tried to keep them a secret. But could this possibly mean that all this time he was in _love_ with her as well? But she had duties, she had obligations, she had morals, they were evil people that tricked people, construing them into doing things that they wanted them to do, "K-K-Kabuto-sama-" she started but was cut off by the crushing weight of his lips.

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"_**Who died and made you King of Anything..?**_"

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Kabuto smirked maniacally as he placed the piece of DNA he extracted from Sasuke's hair that he had saved from two years back, and placed it in a test tube of fresh semen. He shook the tube so that it became one solvent and chuckled softly to himself.

The ultimate breed would soon be born, a creature just short of the Uchiha blood-line. It would have all the enhancing skills Itachi and Sasuke had been so graciously giving through their ancestors. Some would say it was almost like…cheating, going against nature to create the perfect Uchiha.

Kabuto smile grew as he looked up towards the stone window and saw the cherry blossom tree. _"All I need is for __**her**__ to play __**her**__ part…" _He thought to himself. As well if Sasuke acted accordingly, like he usually does, than everything will fall into plan perfectly.

"I hope your keeping your side of the deal."

Kabuto slightly jumped, but then relaxed, knowing that Orochimaru had left the premises.

"A deal is a deal." He muttered harshly back, he stuffed the tube into his pocket quickly and faced the uninvited visitor.

The orange masked man smirked from behind the shadows, and vanished.

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"_**I'm a get your heart racing…"**_

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Sakura giggled at Naruto's lame joke as they dashed through the forest. She was lagging a bit behind him and Kakashi, and usually that would infuriate her to no ends, but today she couldn't really care. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and not too chilly. The atmosphere was perfect, and she just loved travelling with them. Though Team 7 was never complete without Sasuke, she started to realize that maybe, just maybe they were getting used to not having Sasuke with them.

It was an unspoken thing amongst them of course; no one dared to open their mouths to speak of such. Especially Naruto. It didn't stop them from looking for him though, of course not. But it was just easier to live with the disappointment of failing every time they got close to saving him, if they knew that it was pointless anyways.

Sakura running slowed to a slight halt, as she stared at herself in the reflection of the river. She'd grown of course, with her pink hair not dashingly long, but in that awkward stage of not being too short, or too long. She was sixteen, so she was still young, but she felt so wizened for her years. She'd grown up so much compared to her adorable childish thirteen year old self.

'_I wish Sasuke-kun could see my now…' _She wished, picking up a wild dandelion. She's so sure that Sasuke would just die if he could see her…not that she was vain or anything.

Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood erect, and she sensed danger. She could honestly say that time hadn't even passed for more than half a second, but she could instantly recognize a luminous body standing in front of her. Her green eyes widened as the Sharigan user past her unintentionally.

She knew he didn't see her at first, most likely lost in his own delusional thoughts of killing his brother, because when he acknowledged her presence, his obsidian eyes widened. She inhaled sharply, the dandelion dropping slowly to the ground, and before she could even open her mouth to get the first syllable of his name out, he swiftly used his strong arms to cup his hand tightly against her mouth and flung her over his shoulder and they were gone.

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"_**If today was your last day…"**_

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Sasuke dumped her on the ground carelessly, his heart pounding fervently. She landed harshly on the ground, not even bothering to use an ounce of her ninja skills to soften her landing. She looked up at him, slightly disordered almost as if she couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her.

"Sasuke-kun!" She gasped on her hands and knees. Her eyes frantically searched his eyes, but he narrowed them at her.

"Is Naruto here with you?"

Sakura bit her lip; of course, it's always about _their _stupid rivalry. She didn't mean a single thing to him, but a placement holder on their team. She nodded her head limply her shoulder length hair falling in front of her face.

"Fuck," He cursed. The last thing he wanted was Naruto bursting through the forest claiming about bonds, and how he can't be Hokage until he saved him…did it really look like he cared whether Naruto became Hokage or not? He just got a rare lead on Itachi's whereabouts and managed to scramble a temporary team together to spread out and search for him. Just moments ago they had split up on the premises, and just his fucking luck he manages to run into someone from Team Seven.

He looked back at Sakura who was now staring at the ground; her body trembling. She looked a bit different when she and the rest of 'Team Seven' decided to be the reason for him to blow up his previous room.

"Sasuke-kun…" She whimpered. Sasuke itched at the pure sound of weakness in her voice. He was sure that by now she must know that her raw strength was nothing compared to superior one. Attacking him would be pointless, like running into a brick wall. "…please come back."

Sasuke didn't say anything but adjusted his sword on his belt. He walked past her on the floor, ignoring her shocked look.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me."

Whether she was going to respect what he said, or bluntly blab the whole secret to the whole Land of Fire, he couldn't be bothered.

"Sasuke-kun…" She gurgled, she gasped for air as tears flew down her face. This was why it was easier to just accept it…he wasn't coming back, not till he completed his goal. "…if you go I'll scream."

Sasuke's jaw clenched at the familiar threat. "If you scream I'll kill you." He turned around and his eyes flashed red to emphasize his point. It wouldn't be the first time he tried to kill her, she should remember that. But instead, she stood up shaking and tilted her head innocently to the side.

Sasuke hesitated, just astonished by how much she looked like her thirteen year old self on that night she cried for him to stay…

Until she screamed.

The scream was so earsplitting, that he actually flinched. The birds in the small clearing he led them to all fled the area, and if he knew anything he was sure that Naruto's freaking fox ears would've picked that up.

So he flung himself at her, knocking them both to the ground, his sword at her neck. That silenced her immediately, but she had a fucking annoying smirk on her face. Sasuke pressed the sword slightly harder against her neck, bits of her blood actually falling onto it. But she still kept that smirk on her face.

"Kill me then."

Sasuke clenched his teeth. "Don't test me, Sakura."

"I _**dare**_ you to." Sakura batted her eyelashes. "Huh, Sasuke-kun? I dare _you_ to kill me."

"Sakura," Sasuke growled. He felt his new cursed mark on his neck burn hotly. He could feel it twist on his skin, tearing it in the process. His blood dropped on Sakura's face, and she looked slightly alarmed. She suddenly dropped the hardcore girl act her eyes flashing a hint of worry.

"Sasuke-kun! What is that?"

"Mind your own business," Sasuke hissed, removing the sword from her neck. His mark did not agree with that though, and increased its threshold ten times. Sasuke bit the inside of his mouth to keep from crying out, how come whenever he was alone with Sakura things always turned out shit side up for him?

He knew that the mark was supposed to erase all sense of emotions, but this was the only time it had inflected so much pain to him.

"Sasuke-kun I can help," Sakura stood up her hands glowing green. Sasuke dropped to his knees, his hand clutching his neck.

"Stay away from me!" He hissed. He didn't need her. He didn't need anyone. All he wanted to do was defeat Itachi. That's all he fucking wanted to do. His mind reeled; his heart felt like it squeezed its last drop of blood, thirsting for more. _For more blood._ That's all he needed. More blood…and then he can defeat Itachi.

Yeah…that's sounds right. Get more blood; defeat Itachi, just a one-two step procedure…

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…_**J u s t m o r e b l o o d.**_

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"_**SASUKE-KUN!"**_

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"_**I don't care what you think…the best of us kind find happiness in misery…"**_

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Sakura lay tangled on the ground. She attempted to push herself up from the ground, but to no avail. Her shattered body spewed out blood from her mouth, causing her to shiver pathetically. The cold rain pelted from the heavens onto the ground, almost as if they had empathy for her, attempting to wash away the blood.

"_**Get up!"**_

Sakura closed her eyes, blocking the sound out. It was nothing like Sasuke-kun's silky demeanor, this one was ludicrous, delusional. Carelessly slashing that sword around like it was a machete chopping grass.

"GET UP!"

She heard him stomp towards her, grabbing her viciously by her arm. "DAMN IT! TALK TO ME!" Sasuke yelled frantically. He shook her by the arm, which was already dislocated, causing her to hiss in pain. He tossed her back onto the ground like a rag doll, and stepped on her foot with his heel.

"_**Look**_ at me!" He pressed harder. He heard her shriek, and her bones crunching under his weight. "LOOK AT ME!" That rain tumbled harder onto the ground, causing his raven locks to fuse to his face. His body shivered from the cold, but his cursed mark eluded him to believe that he was warm. It had torn into his skin, engraving scribal marks all over it. Blood continuously dropped onto the forest's damp ground, mixing his blood and hers. She lay on her back, staring at him, her emerald eyes wide. And Sasuke stared right back at her his teeth shattering.

"You fucking piss me off." He spat at her, his blood splashed on her nose. But she didn't react, whether she couldn't, or she chose not to, he didn't know. His cursed mark pulsated. "You're such a fucking distraction!"

But she just stared at him, not even blinking when the rain drops fell into her pupil. Sasuke stood over her motionless. Thunder sounded in the area, followed by a dragged out white flash of lighting. Sasuke was slightly surprised that neither Kakashi, Naruto, Karin nor Suigetsu had found them. He hadn't intentionally picked the perfect hideout for this massacre.

The Sakura he had known would've cried herself a freaking river from just the tiniest scratch. But she just took the beatings mutely.

And now he stared down at her standing up, just like how he had stared at Naruto when he was unconscious all those years ago.

"Sakura," He said in a strained voice. She stared blankly back at him, her mouth bruised.

"Wait for me."

"…"

"When I defeat Itachi, I'll come back to you." His voice cracked at the end, and through every word he said his cursed mark impaired him harder. He dropped to his knees out of his intolerance to the pain, and clutched his neck once again finding himself face to face with her. They remained in that position, Sasuke mostly waiting for Sakura to respond to his proposal. Hello, he _is_ Sasuke fucking Uchiha, the guy she's been infatuated from since she learned to speak.

"What do you say to _that_?" He demanded frustrated by her silence.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"_**What do you say?"**_ He boomed at her face. "If _you're_ not there, then there's no point of me living! Do you not fucking understand that!" Sasuke harshly barked. His voice was shaking, he was cracking and it was plain to see. The part of his brain that linked to logical thinking…logical sentences, had been completely been taking over by a curse.

Sakura's breathing quickened, and her bottom lip quivered, "…Okay Sasuke-kun. I'll wait. I promise." She said it so softly that he almost missed it.

It took him some time to register what she just said, almost like a wild animal just confused whether his prey had just surrendered. "Good." He smiled sardonically, and his hand lit up instantly with a blue light. His smile grew wider when he noticed the fear in her face as she lay immobilized on the ground.

The rain tumbled carelessly down his face, rippling onto hers. He raised his blue hand into the air, and brought it down with such force, that the noise was _almost _loud enough to drown out her scream.

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"_**I'm not mistake, I'm not a fake, it's set in my DNA…"**_

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P . R . e . S . E . N . t .

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Sakura held Hisoka in her arms gracefully, as Sasuke stood in front of her opening her door. The two of them had just been released from the hospital, while Sasuke had been in and out since he was forced to take countless DNA tests.

From what Tsunade could muster, the kid did not _biologically_ belong to Sasuke, but somehow still managed to carry some of Sasuke's genes. It was a scientifically impossible, but yet it had been done. Tsunade had decided that from now on, it would be Sasuke's mission to act as if he was the father of this child, and he should relate to it like an S-ranked mission.

Sakura at first had protested against this, obviously things between her and Sasuke hadn't been the best it could've been, and forcing him into being into a relationship was defiantly not his type of thing, but Tsunade would have none of it. The mission was assigned and that was that.

Sasuke pushed the door open and held it open for her as she walked in switching on the lights. They hadn't really said anything to each other over a couple of days. Sasuke had managed to make everything completely awkward by just having the nerve to name her child, but Tsunade thought it was brilliant, it convinced everyone it was his son.

"I'll just go upstairs, and put Hisoka to sleep." Sakura whispered cautiously, avoiding his gaze. Sasuke nodded, and watched her climb up the stairs, with Hisoka quietly in her arms.

He still couldn't understand what had come over him that made 'proclaim' that Hisoka was his child, because it wasn't. It was a lie, but like so many numerous times, he stood up for Sakura even when she didn't ask for it, protecting her.

So what if it looks like he's a fucking jerk for getting a girl pregnant, ditching her for nine months, then coming back when the kid turns out to be the spitting image of him?

He didn't care what the freaking village thought of him anyways, the only reason he stayed here was because of _her._

But now he had another string tying him down to this God forsaken place, a child.

"Shit." He cursed kneeling against her kitchen counter, his hands running through his hair.

"Is there a problem, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked slowly walking up to him. Sasuke looked up at her, slightly confused how he didn't sense that she had returned into the room, he must be really out of it.

"No."

"Oh, are you thirsty?" She asked placing her pointer finger on the bottom part of her lip pondering what drink to pull out of the fridge. Sasuke watched her finger repeatedly tap her lips, his throat suddenly feeling dry.

"Whatever."

She reached into the fridge and pulled out a soft drink for her and one for him as well. They stood there silently sipping their sodas their minds wandering.

"This is so ironic." Sakura laughed in spite of herself. Sasuke raised a single eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

"Well, it's just that, at first we had to pretend that we _weren't_ dating when we really _were_, and now we have to pretend that we _are_ dating, when we're really _not_." She sounded slightly bitter towards the end of the sentence, taking another sip. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"The kid looks like me." He sounded agitated. "If he had turned out any other way, I wouldn't be here." Sakura's eyes widened at the comment.

"I know that," she whispered.

"Good, keep that in mind." He said the last bit staring dead on at her, his eyes hardening.

Sakura rubbed her arm awkwardly at his gaze. "If you don't want to stay, you don't have to."

"It's a mission." Sasuke said simply.

"I _know_ that. The mission would still be successful even if after the villagers completely fall for our gimmick, we could always _say _that we split up." She reasoned harshly.

Sasuke looked at her with an unwavering stare. "Okay. In two years, I'm out." He had to get back to his goal about killing Itachi anyways. Whether the kid was cloned from him for whatever reason, he could not be bothered. He could not waste his years playing house with Sakura, just because he…he….feels the _need_ to.

Sakura swallowed, two years? That's all she got with her blessed Prince Charming? But what could she do? He didn't love her anymore, and you can't force someone into a relationship they don't want to be in. It's fucking illegal in the Love Handbook.

"Fine, two years Sasuke-_kun_."

Sasuke hesitated, but then finished the bit of his drink. " I'm glad we've agreed."

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"_**The Dog Days are Over…"**_

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_**(Ignore the grammar mistakes XD)**_

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**Thanks for all the REVIEWS! I can't believe I'm almost to 300 XD!**

**It's a filler chapter! I know I know, my bad guys! I didn't upload last week cause I had HOMECOMING! Soo yeah, forgive me! But I think…from here on out, its where the REAL story starts…this was like just one long prologue…oh dude no it's like PART I.**

**Just the background info that I had to get out, so that the story makes sense, you know?**

**So REVIEWS SO MAKE MY WORLD GO ROUND**

**XOOREOXO**


	20. Chapter 18

Disclaimer I do not own Naruto

Chapter 18

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"_Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whispered one evening. Her hot breath tickled the skin on his bare chest, as she cuddled up beside him. _

"_What?" Sasuke voice slightly broke at the end, his voice a bit husky. _

"_If you had one wish, what would you wish for?" _

"_What?" _

"_If you had one __**wish **__what-"_

"_No," Sasuke interrupted. "I heard you, why are you asking such a question?"_

"_Why __**can't**__ I ask such a question?" Sasuke groaned at her cheeky answer and looked down at her, puzzled. She stared back at him with such wide and innocent eyes that it was completely startling. _

"_I don't know."_

"_You don't?" Sakura sat up quickly, her long pink hair slightly falling down to her back. Sasuke gently ran his hands through a few strands of her delicate hair. _

"_No, I don't."_

_Sakura jumped off the bed, and ran towards the window just in time to see an airplane passing overhead. _

"_Pretend that airplane is a shooting star, what would you wish for?" She placed her hand on her hips facing him with determination. Why she was so fascinated with this question was far beyond his ability to understand. Sasuke looked at her, and she had on his long buttoned down blue t-shirt on that was enormous on her, but she loved wearing it as if she owns it. _

"_Sakura…" Sasuke warned his cursed mark spinning slightly just by simply looking at her. He hated that; he can look at her, but not touch her. _

"_Just pretend, Sasuke-kun please?" She pouted her lips in the way she knew Sasuke found it so hard to resist, and she knew she was successful when she heard him grunt. He stood up from the bed, only in his long navy trousers, and walked over to her, closing the curtains. _

"_You know what I would wish for?" Sasuke whispered dangerously into her ear. Sakura's breath got hitched in the back of her throat, her heart beating erratically. She limply shook her head, her legs shaking so much just by all the adrenaline. Sasuke placed his hands gently at her back, so she wouldn't fall. _

"_I would wish for my cursed mark to vanish." Sakura shivered as he pulled her closer, he could be so creepy yet gorgeous at times. "Do you know why?" Sakura shook her head again, and Sasuke gently shoved her against the wall, and leaned so close up to her that their noses were barely touching. _

"_Because I could do this, and not have to worry about your life," he whispered staring deeply into her eyes, and then he kissed her._

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"_**Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars…"**_

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Sasuke walked up the stairs to Sakura's room, and placed a blanket on the floor. Sakura looked at him blankly.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously, turning over the bed sheets on the bed. Sasuke snorted as if it were the dumbest question he's heard.

"Getting the floor ready."

"For what?"

Sasuke's eyebrow rose, "To sleep on."

A look of hurt crossed upon her face, as she frowned. "Oh-I thought…never mind." She crawled onto her bed, and once she heard that Sasuke had done the same on the floor, she switched the light off. She could hear the soft labored breathing of Hisoka, who was in a crib adjacent to her bed.

"Sasuke-kun?" Her voice was shaky, for reasons she couldn't explain. She wasn't scared of him, nor was she shy of him. But the mere idea that he was _forced _to be by her side just made her nervous. That it was something completely out of his comfort zone to do; she knew he hated to sacrifice more of his time that he could be using to defeat Itachi by sitting here and babysitting with her.

"…What?"

"Thank you." She said it so purely, that Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the ceiling an empty aching feeling twisting within him. He could not risk getting close to her again, for he knew how that always landed him, screwed.

"Whatever, go to sleep." He heard her let out a small hurtful huff of breath.

"Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

"..."

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Sasuke awoke the next morning to the irritatingly bright gleams of light piercing through Sakura's curtains; his back stiff and sore from lying on the ground. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head, slightly discombobulated on where he actually was at the moment.

Then he remembered.

He gradually sat up from his man made bed, and quickly glanced over at Sakura's actual bed. But she wasn't there. He peeped over to Hisoka's crib, and realized he was missing as well.

'_They must've gotten up before me…' _He reasoned, and almost as if they were slightly answering him, he heard a loud banging of plates from the kitchen downstairs. He quickly fumbled with the blanket he lay on the floor and shoved it under Sakura's bed for the meantime. As he stood up to descend downstairs a picture caught his eye from the corner of the room. The picture was taken by Naruto a year ago, and it was him and Sakura sitting on one of their local neighborhood swing sets. Sakura had worn an irresistible smile on her face, her eyes glistening with pure happiness, while Sasuke were a much more reserved look, but it was evident that he was happy.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the picture, and though to anyone else who happened to come across this picture, it would have seemed like two old teammates enjoying themselves, to him it meant much more. It was a time and place he couldn't return himself to, those days he was reckless, _love drunk. _

He was blinded by her…he doesn't know. That thing that makes her Sakura.

He grabbed the picture frame and tossed it far under the dark bed.

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"_**I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hung over…"**_

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Sakura coaxed Hisoka in one arm as she fried some eggs. It wasn't like Hisoka was crying or being irritating like newborns tend to do, in fact he was the quite opposite, he was extremely silent. And it nerved her. How was she supposed to know whether he was hungry or not? She looked down at Hisoka who was staring back at her expectedly, almost teasing her that she was a horrible mother.

"What!" Sakura yelled angrily at the baby, slightly shaking him. "What do you want?" She quickly left the stove and pulled out a bottle of fresh milk that she pumped the day before, and stuck it in his mouth. But he used his baby tongue to push it back, blocking the bottle from coming into his mouth. Sakura through the bottle on the ground frustrated, and simultaneously she could smell her eggs burning.

She turned her attention back to the stove, but then saw Sasuke, who seemed to appear out of thin air, gently scraping the burnt part of the eggs into the sink.

"Are you trying to burn the house down?" He placed the pan in the sink, and grabbed the tossed bottle from the floor and washed the lid.

"Sasuke…you don't have to do that."

"I'm not doing it for _you_," he retorted, taking Hisoka from Sakura's arm. "I'm doing it for my sanity." He placed the bottle gently in Hisoka's mouth, and this time he took it greedily.

'_**Are you fucking serious?' **_Sakura blushed furiously. Its one thing to be shown up by Sasuke Uchiha, but it's another thing all together when your own baby mocks you.

But Sakura remained her calm as she brushed off her embarrassment, and wiped her palms on her fleece shorts.

"Well," she cleared her throat, and Sasuke glanced up from the baby to her. "What do you want to eat?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Anything not burnt."

"Fine!" She hissed turning her head to the fridge. "Waffles it is. I'll just use the freaking toaster!" She snapped. Sasuke fought a smirk off his face. He glanced back at Hisoka who had finished the contents of the bottle and was just silently staring back at Sasuke, almost as if he was waiting for him to remove the bottle.

"Oh shit," Sasuke cursed, placing the bottle on the table. He had forgotten about that silent demeanor that he possessed, just like Sasuke himself had once had when he was a child.

Suddenly the door bell went off in the distance, signaling that someone was at the door. Sakura looked up from her activity and softly cursed under her breath.

"Not _them _again."

"Whose _them_?" Sasuke asked but almost said it like it was a statement.

"The villagers." Sakura turned at him with an apologetic smile on her face. "They've rang the doorbell like eight times when you were sleeping."

"What do they want?"

"You." Sakura grabbed a napkin and started cleaning her hands with it. "They just want to spew some nasty words at you for 'sleeping with me and then breaking my heart'" Sakura used air quotes for the last part and even rolled her eyes. "It's completely childish." The doorbell rang again, this time with more emphasis. Sakura placed the napkin back onto the kitchen counter and started towards the door, when Sasuke stood up.

"I'll answer it."

"But-"

"I said _I'll answer it_, Sakura." Sasuke refused to face her and headed towards the door.

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"_**Boom, Boom, Boom even brighter than the Moon, Moon, Moon…"**_

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Sasuke opened the door with one hand while Hisoka lay in his arms motionless. His faced was positioned in a way that if you were on that other side of that door, you'd turn right back around and go home crying. But instead of meeting an angry mob like he though, he was greeted by two blonde haired people.

"Yo, teme." Naruto said with a strained voice, his eyes averted somewhere else.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's eyes actually widened for a split second. The last time he checked this guy absolutely hated his guts.

"Yeah, I know you're wondering why I'm here." Naruto slightly turned his head at him, his lips pursed. "Kaori wanted to see _your_ kid." Naruto almost choked on the 'your' part, and that's when Sasuke glanced down at the kid staring back at him with retained excitement, his cheeks puffed out while he bit his bottom lip. He was about to reply until he heard someone behind him open the door a bit wider, and Sakura appeared from under his arm.

"Hey Naruto and Kaori," she said with a bit more forced cheerfulness that Sasuke could detect. She scooped Kaori up in her arms, and ruffled his blonde hair. "An extra hey to you, wow haven't you grown?"

Kaori grinned and used his right arm to form a fist and pound on his chest. "I'm more big than baby!"

Sakura laughed, "Yes you are!" She looked over at Naruto who stood awkwardly at the door, but with a cheesy grin.

"Hey Sakura-chan." Sakura smiled gently at him, and stepped aside, shoving Sasuke behind her.

"Come on in Naruto. I just made breakfast."

"Che. If you count half burnt waffles breakfast." Sasuke snorted, while Sakura punched him on the arm playfully.

"Ignore him." Sakura said leading Naruto inside. She placed Kaori on her couch, while Sasuke lay Hisoka on his back next to Kaori. The three of them watched as Kaori awed at Hisoka's tiny frame. Kaori gently used his hand to touch Hisoka's own, and surprisingly their fingers intertwined.

"My friend…" Kaori murmured softly.

Naruto rudely cleared his throat, "Speaking of _friends_…" Sakura and Sasuke looked at him questionably. "…How can the two of you _lie_ to me like this!" He shouted standing up from his seat. Kaori turned and looked at his father in shock.

"Naruto…" Sakura started, slightly taken aback. She knew that Naruto had every right to be angry with her, but she assumed he came here on peaceful terms. She even hated seeing Naruto upset, he really was one of her only friends, and they've been through so much together.

"No, Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted. "This is complete bullshit. You told me he was Kabuto's and like a fool I believed you, I felt sorry for you! But instead you were lying that you and Sasuke **fucked**? Seriously? Is that how it is now?"

"N-n-no, Naruto," Sakura fumbled through the right words, tears falling down from her face. How was she supposed to make this right?

"What Sakura, what are-"

"Shut up you idiot." Sasuke cut in, glaring at him angrily. He felt Sakura's small frame tremble besides him as sob escaped her lips, and his jaw clenched.

Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke his teeth barring at him. "I don't even want to deal with you right now! You came to me with some sob story about how you can't love again and blah blah, not knowing you'd-"

"He's not mine." Sasuke stated bluntly, his arms crossed. Sakura's head quickly snapped towards him, and Naruto snorted.

"Like I'm going to believe that, teme. The kid is the spitting image of you."

Sasuke shrugged. "So? It's not mine."

"Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke continued, "Its one big cover-up."

Naruto sat down slowly, not quite believing their story. "I don't believe you…"

"I'm not going to force you believe anything. But you are not going to be screaming around like you own _her _house." Sasuke stated nonchalantly. "I'm on a mission. I'm just pretending to be the 'father'."

Naruto looked back cautiously from Sasuke and towards Sakura, who looked just as shocked as he did. "Is this true?" He asked her, almost as her word was the final matter on the issue.

"Y-yeah," She whispered, a pathetic smile appearing on her face. "Sorry we couldn't tell you."

Naruto stood up, and embraced Sakura in a huge hug, "Forget it Sakura-chan." Naruto pulled away and sweetly pecked her forehead. Then he glared at Sasuke who was staring calmly at the two of them.

"But from now on, you two are telling me EVERYTHING that is going on!" Naruto shouted in good-temper. Sakura cracked a smile, while Sasuke scoffed.

"We're not obliged to tell you anything, dobe."

Naruto chose to ignore Sasuke's jibe, and looked back at Kaori and Hisoka. Kaori, who lost complete interest in the argument since he clearly did not understand the topic at hand, and went back to playing with Hisoka. Kaori poked Hisoka's belly gently, and Hisoka actually startled to giggle.

Sakura's mouth dropped, while Sasuke's eyebrows rose.

"That's the only noise I've heard from him…" Sakura pondered. Sasuke silently wondered the same thing. Naruto looked at them, a bit confused.

"Well you know how Uzamaki's are! Solving all the world's problems!" Naruto gloated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't get too excited." Sasuke warned.

"Psh, I can do what I want. Where were you when I was defeating Gaara, some guy with a sword, and Haku? Oh yeah, passed out."

"_What_?" Sasuke snarled, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You heard me!" Naruto teased. Sakura looked between the two, and placed her hand on Sasuke's chest.

"Don't start," she pleaded. Sasuke looked at her, and felt that familiar ache. He shoved her arm away from him, and stood up. "Where are you going?" She asked.

He didn't respond though, and headed to the kitchen. She heard the fridge open and sighed.

"You know…" Naruto started. Sakura picked up Hisoka and placed him in her arms, while Kaori walked over to where they were sitting on the couch and started playing with Hisoka's hair. "…you guys won't be able to fool anyone, just sitting here at home."

"What? I don't get what you're saying…" she stated, rocking Hisoka in her arms.

"I'm saying you guys got to get out and openly show everyone how _madly_ in love you guys are."

"No."

Naruto jumped, slightly startled by Sasuke's reappearance into the room with a fresh glass of water.

"We are not going to parade ourselves about town like fools."

"But you have to!" Naruto reasoned, waving his arms in the air. "You have to act like a bunch of love drunk teenagers!"

"No."

"Well you have to if you ever want those villagers off your shoulder."

"I don't care."

"You should. Or do you want to be the blame for this poor kid being hated by everyone in the village, just 'cause his 'daddy' was the biggest asshole in the world."

"…"

"Besides everyone loves Sakura-chan, they'll forgive you if you show everyone how much you care for her. Even if it's 'fake'." Naruto giggled at the last part and waived his pinky in front of Sasuke's nose. Sasuke swapped his finger away, and looked down at Sakura who was staring at Sasuke with a questionable gaze.

"Are you up for this?" He asked her, running his hands through his hair agitated.

Sakura nodded, "If it's for the sake of our peace."

Sasuke sighed, "I'm going to change." And then he vanished up the stairs.

Naruto looked at Sakura teasingly from the corners of his eyes.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You know you're going to love this."

"Wha-?" She blushed. "Don't be silly, me and Sasuke are over…"

Naruto plumped back onto the sofa, crossing his legs. "Sure Sakura-chan. Sure."

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"_**I'm only gonna break your heart…"**_

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**AHH! I'm so sorry this took forever to write! I had to do my SATs and UGH! HAHA, but that's over! Lol, and yeah…hope you like! Thanks for all the support guys.**

**Oh and if you wonder what's with the random lyrics in bold every here and there that sometimes have nothing to do with the scene…well…I listen to the radio whenever I write a chapter…and yeah, what every song happens to be on at the time, I just pop the lyrics into my story! XD**

**(IGNORE THE GRAMMER MISTAKES LIKE ALWAYS. GIMME A BREAK I JUST TOOK MY FREAKIN SATS.)!**

**REVIEWS MAKE MY WORLD GO ROUND**

**xooreoxo . **


	21. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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"_Sasuukee-kun?" Sakura slurred as she stumbled her way towards Sasuke, tripping on her own two feet. Sasuke caught her before her drunken head hit the bar. Ino and Naruto had organized an 'outing' to what Sasuke had thought was going to be a normal annoying get together at the park. But no, they went that extra mile and went to a night club. _

_Sasuke grinded his teeth, the noise was unbearable, a mixture of earsplitting base sounds with over excessive chatter. The smell was ridiculous, and he felt like the aroma was literally burning holes through his nostrils. And most of all, Sakura had lost her freaking mind. _

"_HAHAHA!" She laughed hysterically, her hair drooping in front her face. She clumsily climbed on the stool next to him and placed her head on the ice cold bar. "Hi Sasuke-kun."_

_Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her and then quickly scanned the crowd for Ino or Shikamaru, who had come as Ino's date. He didn't want them to notice Sakura's sudden proximity to him. _

"_Sakura, I told you not to drink too much." Sasuke hissed staring at his shot in front of him. Sakura hiccupped. _

"_I-I know!" Her dazed eyes stared back at him, and she carelessly used her hand to brush his hair out of his eyes. Sasuke grabbed her wrist and held it roughly. _

"_We're in public." Sasuke's jaw clenched as he tossed her arm onto the bar. He hated seeing her drunk, she always so vulnerable, and stupid. _

"_Yo! That's not how you treat my new boo!" Sasuke turned around to see some overly muscled civilian standing behind him. His red disheveled hair was dripping wet with sweat. _

"_Who the hell-" Sasuke started, but was cut off when the guy wrapped his large arm around Sakura's shoulder. _

"_Hello Yuri!" She half hiccupped half giggled. Even in her drunken state she could still recognize Sasuke's irritated face. "Sasuke-kun, this is Yuri-kun! I'm his boo!"_

_Sasuke blinked. _

"_Yo, yeah she ma boo. Why you holding her like that, man? You got an issue with her?" Yuri used his free hand to brush through Sakura's lovely pink locks and Sasuke felt his arm twitch. He was trying so hard not to rip Yuri's arm right out off his sockets. _

"_You're mistaken." Sasuke said through clenched jaws. His fingers itched to pull Sakura to his side. He had warned Naruto to keep an eye on her on the dance floor, but clearly Naruto had ran off with Hinata and disappeared into that erotic crowd. "She's not yours."_

"_Sasuke-kunnn!" Sakura giggled. "You didn't want to dance, so I got someone new."_

"_Yeah, you ain't satisfying your girl. So now I got her and she's my mine, homie. Sorry bro, but you-"_

_Sasuke quickly dashed the nearest bottle of sake at his face, the bottle completely shattering to pieces. Sakura let out a squeal, while the people around them instantly stopped dancing when they heard the loud piercing noise over the obnoxious pop music. _

"_Oh no, you did not just do that!" Yuri shouted wiping the blood from his face. Sasuke shrugged, grabbing Sakura's arm, but Yuri quickly grabbed the other one. "Who the fuck do you think you're messing with? You ain't met nothing like me!"_

_Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his inexperienced brain. Did he not know who Sasuke was? _

_Yuri swung his arm at Sasuke, but Sasuke managed to pull Sakura out of his grasp, and slightly step to the side, causing Yuri to miss completely and slam his hand into a glass table, breaking it._

"_BAR FIGHT!" Someone screamed. The crowd suddenly started getting rowdy, and Sasuke heard something else crash that had nothing to do with this situation. Suddenly the once calm crowd, turned into a fucking riot. People were screaming and shouting, meanwhile Sasuke held Sakura close to his chest, shielding her. _

"_Look at what you did!" She yelled at him, seeming to have sobered up. Sasuke grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the night club, leaving that mad mob behind them. Once they hit the fresh air, Sasuke felt like he could finally breathe after all that time he'd been suffocating in that place. He looked down at Sakura whose hair was now damp with sweat and her black shorts and purple low cut top hung awkwardly on her body, stuck to her body because of sweat. "Ugh! Sasuke-kun, why the hell did you throw that bottle?"_

_Sasuke glared at her, "Weren't you the one who wanted to be fucking laid by some random gang member?"_

"_No I didn't! I was just having fun! You said we shouldn't make it obvious we were together!" She shouted back. Sasuke looked over his shoulder and to make sure no one was coming, it was three morning. Most of Konoha would be asleep by now, but who knows what other odd idiots are running around like Yuri with blabber mouths. _

"_I did not mean 'fun' in that extent." Sasuke growled at her under his breath. _

_Sakura rolled her eyes, "So did you expect me to play Solitaire?" She crossed her arms and faced away from him. "Sometimes this can be so difficult." She whispered. Sasuke sighed, sensing that she was going to burst into tears any moment, and gently grabbed her hand towards a more secluded area where they wouldn't be noticed as easily. _

"_What is?" Sasuke asked once they were hidden safely under the shadows of the tree. Her eyes were becoming teary, sparkling under the moonlight. "Sakura?"_

"_**This**__!" She shouted. "I'm so sick of pretending, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke's eyes opened, slightly startled. "I want to be like Hinata and Naruto, openly in love and everything! They don't need to hide anything, and Naruto's the fucking nine tails fox! Don't you think he has enemies too!" She barely got the last words out, a sob escaping her lips. For all this time she'd kept this stored inside of her. She didn't want to hide that she was in love with Sasuke, or that he loved her. If Naruto or any other ninja that all have crazy enemies after their asses could express their love, why couldn't Sasuke? Was he embarrassed of her? Did he think she was too weak to protect herself from those enemies? _

"…" _Sasuke didn't say anything, his fist clenched. _

_Sakura lowered her eyes, "If you can't deal with us being __**us**__ for everyone to see…then I don't think we should even be-"_

"_Don't you fucking say that," Sasuke warned, but his warning lacked its usual aggressiveness. He sounded grim. Sakura reached for his hand. _

"_Sasuke-kun, what else do you want me to do? I love you, but I can't keep hiding this I-"_

"_If something were to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Sasuke interrupted. He removed his hands from hers, and leaned against the tree, his eyes casting down as if he were in deep thought. _

"_Sasuke-kun?"_

_Sasuke continued, "I've said this a thousand times. Naruto's never had anyone to begin with, so he doesn't know what it's like to have everything taken away from you at once." Sasuke looked up at her, "But I do."_

_Sakura sighed and leaned her back against his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her waist and he dropped his head into her pink hair. "If something where to happen to you because of the people associated with me, not only would I not be able to forgive myself, but I wouldn't know what to do."_

"_Don't you think Naruto's worried that his enemies would use Hinata to their advantage as well?" Sakura said it so softly, that her voice was almost carried away with the breeze. Sasuke hesitated before he responded._

"_Then I suppose Naruto's braver than me."_

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"…_**I want the world to see you be with me…"**_

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CHAPTER 19.

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"OKAY!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Sasuke and Sakura groaned monotonously. "That's the spirit!"

"Just stop being a fucking cheerleader and push the stroller." Sasuke snapped. Naruto's dumb plan was surprisingly coming into action.

Naruto narrowed crystalline blue eyes, "Don't curse in front of the kids." He covered Kaori's ear for emphasis, who was in the double seated stroller with Hisoka. Sakura laughed at Naruto's childish behavior. It was always so refreshing to be around him.

Naruto grinned at Sakura, "Okay! Well if you guys are going to convince anyone your together you got to stand a bit closer." Naruto ordered using his fingers to show the minimum space between them. Sasuke groaned, and grabbed Sakura by the waist, quite harshly.

"Happy?" He hissed.

"Well, if you're going to do it like that…" Naruto shook his head disapprovingly. Sasuke ignored him and said some bitter words under his breath.

Sakura blushed awkwardly, under his grasp. It wasn't like it was the first time Sasuke's ever held her, but…in public? She wasn't used to that. Even so, it wasn't like he wanted to, he was bloody forced to.

A few early villagers stared as they walked through town, some even stopping completely to point and stare.

"Well, isn't that rude?" Sakura commented.

Naruto snorted, "Welcome to the first 12 years of my life." Sakura bit the inside of her mouth. She didn't want people pointing and staring at Hisoka as he grew older, just because he was 'Sasuke's' son.

"Don't worry."

Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke staring at her intently.

"Once we pull this off, then he won't live a pathetic childhood like Naruto's." Sasuke said the last part for Naruto to hear, which earned another loud snort. Sakura felt her worries wash away; Sasuke always knew how to make a situation better.

"WELL!" Naruto interrupted. "You can't just think standing side by side, is going to convince anyone you're truly happy!"

Sasuke turned around to glare at him bitterly.

"It's true. There are plenty of dysfunctional families that can walk side by side! We got to have a nice family breakfast!"

"You're not part of this family unit." Sasuke mumbled under his breath. Sakura pinched his arm gently, as a warning.

"Sure Naruto. Where should we go?" Naruto's smile grew.

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"_**And every time she asks me if she looks okay, I say…"**_

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"I don't consider Ramen romantic." Sasuke teased, once the old man placed a bowl in front of his face. The spoon headed towards Kaori's mouth paused, as Naruto looked at Sasuke like that was the dumbest thing he's ever heard him say.

"Wow. I didn't know you were an expert in Romance. But FYI, I proposed to Hinata here."

Sasuke raised a single eyebrow, a smirk appearing on his face. "Of course you did."

Sakura rolled her eyes at their childish banter, as she attempted to feed a bottle of warm milk to Hisoka, but once again he was refusing it. "Come on, Hisoka." She cooed. But he was as stubborn as his fake father.

"Let me try." Sasuke said, pushing his steaming bowl of ramen away from him, it was too early for it anyways.

Sakura hesitated. It wasn't like she didn't trust Sasuke to feed Hisoka, but ever since Sasuke held Hisoka for the first time, he refused to take a bottle from her. She knew it was nothing personal, but it just felt as if it were.

"Sakura, just hand the kid over before it starves." Sasuke said sarcastically, Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. Naruto's finger rose in the air.

"Yeah! That's perfect! Sasuke _acting_ like he cares for the kid will have the villagers drooling with happiness!" He whispered, so the man next to him wouldn't hear.

"Che, acting." Sasuke snarled, as Sakura handed him Hisoka. The minute Sasuke placed the bottle into Hisoka mouth he sucked on it greedily. Sasuke rose a single eyebrow at Sakura, who crossed her arms angrily and placed her chopsticks in her ramen taking in a large mouth full.

Naruto smiled to himself, quickly turning his face away so they wouldn't see him getting so much pleasure out of this. He honestly had no idea whether the villagers would accept Sasuke and Sakura if they showed them how happy they were. He was just bullshitting the whole thing. He just wanted Sasuke to come to his senses that he's nothing without out Sakura.

But with Sasuke sometimes you just needed a little shove, so today Naruto gave himself the title of the match maker.

"Sakura-chan!" A snarly voice called out from behind them.

Naruto's ears twitched at the sound of Lee's perkiness.

'_**Ugh not fuzzy brows…'**_

"Oh, hi Lee!" Sakura greeted with half a mouth full of ramen. She quickly swallowed it. "How are you?"

"I am fine." Lee said awkwardly using his eyes to kind of sneakily look at the child. "I see the baby is doing well."

"Hisoka." Sasuke blurted.

"Excuse me, Sasuke-san?"

"He has a name Lee. It's Hisoka." Sasuke repeated this time with a bit more venom than he intended.

Lee bowed, "Of course. You are his father." Lee looked at Sasuke cautiously, but then looked at Sakura. "I am glad that you are healthy, Sakura-chan. You are looking like the cherry blossom I fell in love with. I see that love has restored the light in your eyes."

"Uh…sure…" Sakura looked at Sasuke carefully. Sasuke shrugged. Lee waved good-bye and headed out the ramen store. Naruto waited to make sure that he was a good arms length away before he spoke.

" 'Uh…sure!'" He scolded at Sakura. "Are you serious! Sakura-chan! That's not what you say when you're in love!"

Sakura looked taken back. "I'm sorry I forgot!"

"Ugh! I have so much to teach you!" Naruto exasperated. "Stop feeding that baby! He's finished with the bottle!" Naruto pointed out at Sasuke, who seemed to be in his own little world. And to his surprise when he looked down, Hisoka was just staring at him with the same identical onyx eyes.

"Shit…" Sasuke cursed under his breath. It kind of gave him the chills that Hisoka never cries, or makes any sounds.

"Okay!" Naruto declared, pounding his fist on the table. "On to the next stop!"

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"_**And that was the day I promised that I would never sing of love if it does not exist…"**_

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"It was nice for Naruto to leave as alone for some time," Sakura commented as she sat on the freshly cut grass. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Naruto had volunteered to take Hisoka off their arms as Sakura and Sasuke had a 'one on one public display of affection'. Sakura yawned sweetly as she started to pick the green grass.

"You're tired." Sasuke more or less stated than asked. It hadn't really occurred to him, but Sakura really hasn't rested since she gave birth.

Sakura looked up at him, and smiled with her eyes. "Not really, I'm fine."

Sasuke snorted. "This is what you do, and then you get sick." Sasuke motioned with his hand for her to come closer. Sakura looked at him blankly, and then he sighed in frustration. "Just fucking lay your head on my lap."

"…What?" Sakura's face heated up, a bit astonished that Sasuke was offering this to her. Sasuke looked away from her, his eyes narrowing.

He cleared his throat. "You're exhausted, and we have to act like we're…together. To kill two birds with one stone, just take a nap and rest your head on my lap, shit it's not brain surgery."

Sakura hesitated; she brushed her hand through her hair, "Are you sure? I don't want-"

"Sakura, I hate repeating myself."

Sakura swallowed and gently crawled herself towards him, poking his thigh as if she were testing it out. Then she slowly and carefully placed her head on his thigh.

"Hmmm, it's comfy. Though a bit tougher than I remembered…" Sakura mumbled into his thigh. Sasuke gently tugged her hair in order for her to shut up, and surprisingly she did. In fact it wasn't too long before her breathing became soft and labored.

Sasuke brushed her delicate hair to the side just to make sure that she was indeed sleeping, before he could let his rigid body relax. It was so weird. It wasn't like he's never had her in such close proximity to him before, but it had been some time. It's nearly been a year, and still she smelt the same exact way, the little dimple in her right cheek faintly appears whenever she smiles, and she still has exactly twelve freckles sprinkled on her nose (not that he's counted…).

And she still had that hold over him. That hold that _always_ made him conscious of her well being, that hold that made him feel the _need_ to protect her. Even if it wasn't that big of a deal, like her not getting enough sleep.

Sasuke grinded his teeth, he needed to get over that fast and quick, but how. How was he-

"Oh, no. Look whose here."

Sasuke inwardly grunted when he looked up to see a familiar female with blonde hair standing over him.

"Ino."

"Sasuke." She nearly spat. She placed her hands on her hips, her purple jumper slightly crinkling. "Haven't seen you around lately."

"Aa," Sasuke muttered, slightly annoyed that he couldn't stand up and peer over her instead of the other way around. Thanks to a now slumbering Sakura on his lap, he felt inferior to this noisy blonde.

Ino was silent for a moment, her eyes lingering on Sakura. "She looks comfortable."

"She is."

"Huh, and what about you?"

"I am."

"Interesting," Ino spitefully remarked. "It's funny how you used me though just to get to her…and yet it all worked out for you, didn't it?"

Sasuke blinked, "Used you? What the hell are you talking about Yamanaka?"

"That day when you came to me at my shop, saying you wanted 'help' because you just happened to of fallen in love?" Ino reminded him, her porcelain blue eyes darkening. "If I had known you just wanted to buy her a ring so you could fucking sleep with her, then I wouldn't have bothered!"

A light bulb went off in Sasuke's head. He remembered that day he had gone to her for help almost 10 months ago. Ino had taken it as he used her, just to get Sakura laid.

"Fuck," Sasuke cursed, unconsciously running his hands through Sakura's hair. It was something he had done in the past to help him think when they used to share a bed at night.

How was he going to get himself out of this one? There was no way Ino knew at that time he was already dating Sakura…so it wasn't like he just bought her something to deceive her. She didn't even accept that ring. "Look, it's not what you think."

"Of course it isn't. That's what all the assholes say." Ino rolled her perfect eyes. "You're such a fucking loser, seriously! I had all this respect for you, and you've just thrown that in the drain. You could have at least stayed with her when she was pregnant, but no, you abandoned her. And now that your child is the spitting image of you, you can't deny it anymore, can you? So you're just going to crawl back into her life! That's despicable. What is she going to do the next time you leave, huh? I am just so fucking sick of picking up the pieces after _you_ break her heart."

Sasuke's jaw clenched as he could feel Sakura stirring underneath his touch. Ino's eyes saddened.

"The minute I saw that little boy…I just knew I couldn't do it anymore," Ino whispered. "I can't keep fixing her heart just for you to break it again. I know that as long as you're in the picture, there can't be a friendship between me and her. It hurts me too much to see her like that, so I can't. I can't." Ino looked up towards the sky in order to suppress her tears from escaping. It was taking a lot of strength, but there couldn't be a friendship if Sakura kept running back to Sasuke, or easily falling for his cheap tricks that always ended up with her hurt.

A nice breeze filled in the awkward silence, and the warm spring weather suddenly had a slight chill to it. Sasuke blew out a long hot breath, his chest collapsing.

"I get it," he started, his voice husky. "I'm not going to make excuses for my past, nor for whatever I may do in the future. You may hate me all you want, but don't use that anger against Sakura." Sasuke could literally hear his brain tell him to **'shut-up, you shouldn't care!'** but he continued. "You two have a great friendship and if something does happen, and I'm out of the picture, I do want her to have someone to fall back on. Other then the dobe." Sasuke ended his short speech with a small half apologetic smirk that he knew he was known to be irresistible for. And it worked.

Ino bit her bottom lip, fighting of a smile. A lone tear escaped her lids, as she quickly wiped away. "Okay," she croaked. She gently used the tip of her shoe to kick his arm. "But don't be a douche, Sasuke-kun. It gets really _annoying_." Ino laughed while using Sasuke's trademark expression against him. She clapped her hand loudly, which earned another small stir from Sakura, and she bowed her head regretfully. "I'll see you two later!" She whispered and then she ran off into the distance.

Sasuke watched her disappear over the horizon, and suddenly retracted his hand from Sakura' hair almost as if were on fire and it had just burned him. Had he really been rubbing her hair the entire time?

"Damn it," he cursed softly, his heart feeling heavy.

"Oh my!" Naruto suddenly popped out from the bushes, a binocular around his neck and Kaori's. "That was so touching! You don't even need my help to be her knight of shining armor!"

Sasuke's left brow twitched. "Were you in that bush the entire time?"

"Maybe." Naruto grinned, relieving Kaori from the two seated stroller, and allowing him to stretch his legs. "I wanted to see you in your natural environment."

"You're an idiot," Sasuke scoffed, if he had the ability to blush, he probably would have. "How can you hide in a bush with a new born and your one year old son?"

Naruto shrugged it off carelessly, "Don't worry about it, Hisoka barely complained." Sasuke thought about saying something completely derogatory back, but decided against it. "Besides, you seem to be enjoying _that_." Naruto commented, his eyebrows rising annoyingly. Kaori had scrambled to his feet and started sprinting towards Sakura.

"Awww! She sleeping!" He exclaimed clapping his hands excitedly. Then, unpredictably he grabbed a chunk hold of Sakura's hair, and yanked it with monstrous baby strength. Sasuke instantly reached down to Kaori's grasp and tried to release it, but it was too late.

"OWWWWWWWWWW!" Sakura shot up, her fist flying towards Sasuke's chin, almost reflexively. Sasuke tumbled backwards a few meters grasping his jaw.

"Shit, Sakura!" He cursed angrily, blood seeping through his mouth. Kaori blew a bubble and ran around in circles with pink hair in his tiny tan palms.

"Daddy, look! Pwetty hair!" Kaori exclaimed, stopping in front of his father to show his findings. Naruto snatched the hair from his hands, and poked him on his head.

"No Kaori, that's bad! Very bad!" Naruto scolded, throwing Sakura's hair on the floor. Naruto smiled at Sasuke nervously. "Sorry about that!"

"Sorry? You dipshit, you should slap that child across the fucking face!" he spewed, clearly angry. Naruto used his hands to cover Kaori's ears.

"Seriously, someone should wash your mouth out with soap!"

Sakura, who was completely dazed, felt the top of her head. Though she felt like she had two severe bald spots in her hair, in reality she had none. And then she noticed the damage she did to Sasuke's face.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, I am so sorry!" Sakura quickly scrambled on all fours towards Sasuke, who was looking at her like she was a deluded criminal. "Here let me help," She pleaded, her hands glowing pale green. Sasuke recoiled from her touch.

"Don't."

"Sasuke-kun, it'll help I promise." She said sincerely leaning forwards more.

Sasuke, his mouth completely pouring out blood (which Kaori now had just screamed "icky!"), glared with her with such intensity, that she actually froze. "Do _not_ come near me."

But Sakura, as a medic-nin, could not just let a patient bleed. Especially when she was the one that inflicted the pain. She quickly got on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Sasuke completely caught off guard by this random attack, did little to defend himself. She straddled him by his waist and placed her cool pale green hands on his jaw.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he struggled underneath her superhuman strength. "Sakura, get off!" He nearly shouted, the tone of his usually cool voice sounded oddly strained. But Sakura refused to get off, until…she noticed the black swirls that had slowly appeared on his jaw, engraving into his skin. She quickly stopped the process, but then she knew it was too late. Sasuke's recognizable midnight blue eyes faded away into snake like golden eyes, and his mouth quickly curved upwards into a sinister smile.

"Oh, no…" Sakura murmured, her bottom lip quivering. She swiftly glanced over at Naruto, who looked just as shocked as she was at how quick the transformation had happened.

Sasuke easily removed himself from underneath her and grabbed her face so that she would face him, her eyes forced to meet his sadistic own.

"Hello, Sakura-_chan_."

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"_**I told ya baby… uh-oh…"  
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**Haha believe it or not…that last lyric quote thing is actually a song…haha, it's the first few lines in the Rockstar by Rihanna. Well what do you think! Drop a Review to let me know…AND…have you guys read the new manga.**

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**Theres gonna be some EPIC battle scenes coming up! XD**

**REVIEWS MAKE MY WORLD GO ROUND**

**xooreoxo **


	22. Chapter 20

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

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"_Sasuke-kun you look kind of pale…" Sakura observed touching his forehead lightly before climbing into bed. Sasuke flicked her hand away. _

"_I'm fine." He covered his cough by pretended to clear his throat, his eyes darkening. Sakura tilted her head to the side, observing him quietly. He had just come back from a two day mission, and she had just gotten back from a hard day at work at the hospital. She blew air out of her mouth, a stand of pink hair hovering above her face. _

"_Well you don't look fine," she muttered, climbing into bed. Sasuke ignored her though and turned the bed light off. "…Do you want me to check if anything isn't functioning?"_

"_No."_

"_It'll only take a minute," she whispered into his ear, wrapping her arms around his waist. She thought she felt him flinch when she placed her head on his chest. His heart was pounding harshly underneath his chest, his breathing becoming more labored. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura lifted her head up at him in alarm. _

_He was looking at her with an odd faraway look that she'd only seen with her patients that were suffering from odd tropical diseases. _

"_Oh no!" She sat up quickly, placing her hand on his forehead again. He narrowed his eyes at her, clearly agitated, but he could barely lift his finger to refuse her. And then he came to the realization that he couldn't even deny it anymore. Ever since he'd gotten back from that mission he had been feeling a bit woozy. His throat was so dry that no amount of water could quench it. His head pounded like Chouji had run into his scalp a thousand times. His back, his legs, his fucking vision, everything just hurt. _

_But he wasn't going to tell Sakura that. _

_No way, because then she would go into medical mode. Start trying to heal him and based on his experience every single time she placed her specific healing hands on him, it hurt. _

_Not in a painful agonizing way, no. It felt was so exhilarating that it burned. It was like those giant lollipops at the store, by the time you've gotten to the center, your mouth is so sore that you can't even keep your tongue inside your mouth anymore. And that's exactly how he felt. _

_He wasn't sure if it was the cursed mark on his neck that made him feel that way, but it probably was since he rarely got the feeling to make love to Tsunade whenever she healed him. With Sakura it was so different so…erotic. The thirst, the need, the lust to possess her whenever she placed those blessed hands on him was so intense that he honestly had to use most of his willpower to hold him back. He couldn't risk feeling that much because emotions lead to danger. Always. _

"_Sakura," Sasuke huskily whispered. Sakura looked at him the worry in her expression was poorly hidden. "Don't touch me with your hands."_

"_But I have to!" She pleaded, her naked hand landed on his burning chest. "Sasuke-kun, you're so sick! If I don't do something now it could lead to more severe problems! You must've picked up something when you were away, and you can't let that something linger in you." Her hands glowed green. "Just let me help, you've let me do it before!"_

_Sasuke licked his sweaty bottom lip. It was true, he had let her heal him before, but those times he wasn't ill, just scratched up. "Listen to me. Go get Tsunade then if you're that concerned, but don't touch me."_

_Sakura looked at him like he was delirious and was slightly hurt by his rudeness, but decided that if that was the only way that Sasuke would allow help, then that's what she had to do. "Okay," She agreed, bending down to give him a quick kiss on his scorching lips. Sasuke grunted softly at the cooling sensation on his lips, when suddenly his muscles convulsed as he felt something more intense captivate him. He felt a delicious shiver from the bottom of spine shoot upwards towards his neck. His arms automatically locked themselves into her hair, forcing her closer causing her to gasp in surprise. _

_She had deceived him. She foolishly had let her nurturing side take over her, and gone ahead and placed her healing pale green hands on the side of his face. She thought it would be the easiest way to get rid of the fever without making it obvious she was doing so. But she hadn't expected this kind of reaction. She quickly forgot about her 'healing' duties and quickly fell into the trap of a hunger for lust. _

_Sasuke, with new found energy, captivated her lips causing them to swell and she let out a soft moan. She had forgotten about her Healing Jutsu and accidently slid her hands down his face and onto her his chest, fascinated by the chiseled structure. Sasuke threw himself on top of her his hands pulling harshly at her hair, where her green hands roamed his body. It was the most sexual, intimate position they had ever been in together, yet they were merely kissing. Sasuke groped her waist, grasping at her skin as if he wanted to bind her into him. Suddenly, everything went hazy. _

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_He blinked again and one minute his lips had been on her lips, but were now at the nape of her neck. _

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_Then his hand had brushed her inner thigh causing her back to arch, and a wave of passion hit him._

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"_Oh…my!" He heard her scream…or did he? Wait when did she say that, was it a minute, a second ago…did she even say that…?_

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'_**Kill her.'**_

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"_Sasuke-kun!"_

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'_**Kill her.'**_

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_Moaning._

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_Groping._

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_Tearing._

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_Sighing_

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_Screaming_

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_Grasping._

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_Feeling._

_The order in which these occurred completely blindsided him, drowned by his own emotions. His grasp of reality was dim and cold, the truth far beyond his reach. He didn't know whether it was his new found fever or the fact that he was completely infatuated with lust and power. His throat was dry and it ached for water, he was imprisoned. He could no longer make the clear figure of the pink haired girl that was lying before him just a moment ago, nor could he regain control of his own body. _

_It was like he was lying dormant within himself. _

_"Sas-Sasuke-kun!"_

_The cry was so loud, so brain boggling that it snapped him out of his crazed state. He gasped for air as the familiar room reappeared itself, and his fingers were under his control. He pulled his mouth away from her navel, released his grip on her wrist, and flew himself off of her and onto his back. He panted harshly, surprised that he managed to bring himself back after he had fallen so deep. _

_He could hear Sakura panting, her chest bear except for a blue cotton bra. He turned his head ever so slightly, and peered at her through his drenched bangs. She had light marks on her body that wouldn't bruise over till tomorrow morning. The bite marks were hard for him to remove his eyes from, and the shredded clothes items were hard to miss as well. She felt him staring at her and turned her face to stare at him. Their eyes linked and Sasuke felt his jaw clench unconsciously. _

"_Why did you do that?" His voice croaked. _

"_I didn't-I didn't think-" Sakura started, her bottom lip trembling. Clearly she didn't realize that Sasuke was going to get so aggravated with her. She just thought she was going to heal him, how could she have known that Sasuke was going to flip out and attempt to have the most brutal kind of sex she could ever imagine?_

"_Exactly. You didn't think." Sasuke spat. He slowly sat up, his body still weak from the fever that he already had, and now struggling with the aftereffects of the cursed mark. "There are reasons why I say what I say. Don't fucking play with shit like that. If I hadn't of managed to turn it off then-" Sasuke cut himself off, refusing himself from allowing his mind to wander down that dark path. Sakura immediately sat up, attempting to hide the immediate pain that followed. _

"_I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" She started, reaching out to him and gently touching his shoulder with the tip of her fingertips. He flinched. "I should've listened."_

_He grunted and took a step towards the door, he wavered a bit, but managed. He pulled on a shirt, since his previous shirt just seemed to have vanished, and placed it on. He touched the door knob, his mind already set that he was going to see Tsunade and see if she would be willing to give him some form of elixir for the sickness he picked up. _

"_But!" She called out causing him to halter in his movements. _

"_But what Sakura?" He asked tiredly, his worlds slurring together. He placed his hand against the wall for support. _

_Sakura grinned, "That was the most amazing experience ever!"_

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"_**But you probably won't, you think you're cooler than me…"**_

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CHAPTER 20

Naruto first instinct was to grab Kaori and run, leaving Sakura to fend for herself. His hands itched to grab his only child to a safe place far away from his insane friend. He quickly glanced from Kaori's oblivious structure who was busy playing with Hisoka, to Sasuke's frame towering over Sakura's own. His jaw locked.

It was his duty to protect this village as a whole, and he needed to put Sasuke back into his normal state of mind before he went on a fucking blood thirsty rampage. He placed his hand on Kaori's head grabbing his attention.

"Kaori, you remember that old-lady?" Naruto asked hastily, already scribbling down a note on a piece of a paper. Kaori nodded excitedly.

"Gwandma?"

Naruto nodded in response and quickly stuck the note in Kaori's belt. "Give this to her when you see her, okay?" Kaori nodded eagerly, and Naruto grinned and ran his hands through his hair once more. "Go son and hurry!"

Kaori quickly turned around and pushed the stroller with Hisoka in it out of the park. Naruto watched him, his heart wretchedly beating. It could be the last time he might ever get to see his son.

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Sakura's heart sped up, images of how corrupted Sasuke tends to act during this phase. In her peripheral vision she could see the few civilians gather their children and sprint for their dear lives. Sakura actually hoped she could do the same. She scrambled out of Sasuke's grasp and tumbled backwards, her bottom lip trembling.

"S-Sasuke-kun…calm down it's me, Sakura." Sasuke lowered his head chuckling with a menacing laugh.

"I know who it is, Sakura, I'm not blind." He tilted his head to the side, which usually made him look even sexier, but at this moment it gave him a malevolence demeanor. "You've changed." He observed. He walked over towards her, as she scrambled away from him, but he quickly grabbed her right ankle and twisted it so she wouldn't move. Sakura screamed, but then quickly silenced her scream by biting her lower lip. She frantically grabbed pieces of the grass, trying to grab hold of something, anything, that would grant her stability.

"You didn't run last time…" he muttered. "Does that mean you're afraid of me?" Though there was some slight humor in the last statement, he glared at her with such ferocity that Sakura averted her gaze.

"No, it's just this time I have a son to look after."

Wrong choice of words. That statement alone sent a loud snarl from Sasuke's locked jaw. Sakura gulped. Could it be that this Sasuke harbors the same hatred for this whole situation as the normal Sasuke?

He snapped her out of her thought process when he pounded his fist into her stomach, making her mouth open widely in a feign attempt to breathe. She doubled over, gasping. Her eyes watered as her lungs struggled to maintain their function. Instantly she felt him stand over her again, but then the shadow he casted over her suddenly disappeared.

"Don't fucking touch her!" She heard Naruto scream as he tackled Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke got loose from his grasp and banged his forehead against Naruto's own. Naruto barred his teeth as an immense pain shot through his cranium. The two stood apart, each in their respective defense stances.

"What's it to you? Why the hell do you care what I do to her?" Sasuke shouted nodding his head at Sakura's direction. Naruto's blue eyes narrowed.

"I care because not only is she my teammate," Naruto wiped the blood trickling down his head from the open sore Sasuke placed on his forehead, "But also because if you kill her and you snap out of this state, you're going to regret this!"

Sasuke cracked his knuckles, his words not affecting him. "How sure are you about that?" Then faster than the blink of an eye, he sidestepped Naruto and charged right at Sakura again. It all seemed to happen in slow motion from Naruto's point of view. His eyes widened as he followed Sasuke, but it was in vain. Sasuke in this phase was ten times faster than him and by the time he caught up to him, it was too late.

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"_**I wonder if I've ever crossed your mind…?"**_

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Tsunade walked out of her office and locked the door behind her. She sighed heavily. Another long day at work done with. If she had known that the majority of this Hokage business usually required long days of tedious paper work, she probably wouldn't have signed up.

She turned around and started walking down the long hallway when from around the corner a little child pushing a stroller came sprinting towards her.

"Kaori?" She called out when the little boy came into her vision. The said boy looked up at her with excitement when he recognized her.

"Gwandma!" He called out. He ditched the sleeping Hisoka in his stroller by the side of the hallway and sprinted towards Tsunade waving a piece of paper in hands. "Look!" He gave the note to her.

Tsunade, clearly confused, took the note from the child and scanned it. Her eyes widened as the words suck in.

_**Yo old lady. At the park. Sasuke's gone insane. If you would like to help just stop by, ur always welcome.**_

_**Future Hokage**_

"Did your father give this to you?" Tsunade asked urgently. Kaori nodded clapping his hands.

"I did good?" He asked giddily, as if he were waiting for his compliment. Tsunade smiled at his cheerfulness despite the situation. He really was just like Naruto.

"Yes Kaori, you did a wonderful job." Kaori's smile grew tenfold, and pointed towards Hisoka who was sleeping.

"Hishoka did good too!" Kaori ran over to his friend and petted him on his nose, causing Hisoka to giggle. Tsunade smiled at the scene, but then quickly realized the situation at hand. She turned into her Hokage mode and with the snap of her finger three ANBU black ops were standing in front of her, on guard.

"Head to the central park, Sasuke's seal has released." She ordered. She then ran into her office and pressed a button that would signal Shizune to run into her office at any moment. As expected, Shizune came sprinting in with TonTon in her arms.

"Yes Lady Hokage?" She bowed respectively. Tsunade threw the office keys at her.

"Watch these kids and call a code red on the entire village." Shizune's mouth opened and glanced out the window. It looked pretty peaceful out there with the sun blistering through. No sense of panic.

"Why, is there something going on?" She asked curiously.

Tsunade ignored her question and ran out the door, leaving Shizune with two kids and a pig.

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"_**I think I'm falling for you…"**_

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It was a sickening crack.

That's the only way Naruto could explain it. It was obnoxiously loud, as if her body wanted to know that he failed in protecting her. He flinched; his breath became hitched in his throat. Even Sasuke visibly winced at the noise, as if he weren't expecting it to be her that fragile.

"BASTARD!" Naruto shouted at him, regaining the feeling in his legs as he sprinted towards Sasuke, punching him hard in his face. Sasuke twirled around, caught off guard. Naruto had a chance to attack him again, but couldn't care less. He skidded on the ground towards Sakura's sedated body. Her eyes were wide open as blood seeped through her scalp, mixing in with her pink hair. Naruto felt his heart froze.

"Oh no…" he whispered. He took in a ragged breath and gently placed his two fingers against her neck, just like how he was taught to do in the academy. There was a faint pulse…it was so faint that he didn't even know if it were technically counted as one. "Sakura-chan…?" he whimpered.

She didn't respond.

Naruto growled as he turned to look at Sasuke who was staring at them with a sick smile on his face.

"Is that bitch dead?" he asked so casually. His cursed mark glowed with a purple spark, as his hair grew longer. Naruto fist balled. How could he say that? How dare he say something so barbaric? Wasn't this the same man that came to him less than a year ago with a fucking ring in his hand for this same girl? Wasn't he the same one that cried over this girl? Wasn't he the same man that was madly in love with her?

"You're a fucking idiot Sasuke!" He snapped, exposing his fangs. Sasuke snorted arrogantly. Naruto stood up, anger pounding through his veins. "You-"

But he didn't even get to finish his sentence as three ANBU black ops appeared out of thin air and tackled Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke hissed out in pain and in surprise as they placed a chakra drainer on each of hands.

Sasuke shouted as his chakra was painfully drained from him, and his black marks receded. His eyes were wide and wild, his yellow eyes darting everywhere. At this point Tsunade chose to gracefully appear and placed her hands on Sasuke's neck, temporarily sealing the mark.

Sasuke drew in a sharp breath, his chest rose and his eyes returned back to normal. His temperature dropped as his fingers twitched aimlessly.

"Welcome back Uchiha," Tsunade remarked sarcastically. She stood up ignoring the hyperventilating Sasuke and turned her attention back to Sakura who had lost a lot of blood under these spare seconds.

"What happened?" She asked Naruto in a tired voice.

"Sasuke threw an explosive kunai at her head." Naruto hoarsely remarked, still a bit in shock from how fast they managed to take Sasuke down. "Will she…" Naruto started unable to finish his sentence.

Tsunade sighed, and ripped her shirt in order to stop the immense blood flowing out of Sakura's head. She wrapped the shirt around Sakura's head gently. "At this point, I don't know."

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"…_**And I press the little button in the sit back chair…"**_

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Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Sasuke opened his eyes in fright. He sat up, and looked around in the all too familiar hospital room. The same blank walls with the same window stared back at him. His breathing became uneven, as he scanned the room.

"Damn it!" He cursed. The sore burnt marks on his wrist were a clear indication that they had used chakra drainers on his hands, though he didn't remember it. He didn't remember anything. He could only remember a loud boisterous noise that actually made it into his memory bank. And he was actually afraid to know where the noise came from. He attempted to stand up, but then fell flat on his face, grunting in pain. He saw that his feet were bound together with more chakra drainers. He grimaced.

He knew all too well that using his hands to attempt remove it would end up harming him even more. He cursed again under his breath and used his arms to push himself back up, and hop himself towards the door. It was surprising that this time no one was on guard of him. Did that mean they trusted him just a bit more?

_No…it means that you're not considered a traitor anymore… _

Sasuke snorted at the irony of it. He grasped the doorknob and locked his jaw from the immense pain that eradicated from that small movement. The door opened and to his surprise Naruto sat across his door, his arms crossed.

They stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. Sasuke read Naruto's eyes, and it was full of disappointment. Naruto had a grim look on his face and there were traces of dried up tears on his cheek. Sasuke's heart halted.

"Where's Sakura?" He demanded. He noticed Naruto's Adam's apple bobble as he swallowed, averting his gaze.

"I-in her room." Naruto stuttered. "But I'm not going to tell you where it is."

Sasuke nearly laughed at his threat. "Really, where is she?"

"I'm not joking." Naruto said more sternly.

"Naruto," Sasuke warned. His temper rose. What kind of bull shit was Naruto trying to pull? "This isn't the time for this."

"I don't think you're good for her." Naruto blurted. He could feel Sasuke's icy cold stare.

"I don't care what you think."

"Well, no one else here is going to tell you where she is. Except for me."

Sasuke groaned hotly under her breath. "Naruto, don't do this." His voice broke at the end. It almost sounded as if he were near desperation.

But Naruto remained firm. "You almost killed her, again. Shit Sasuke, I was right there…I can't…I can't let you-" Naruto's eyes watered. "It's hard for me to pick a side, but one of us has to protect Sakura-chan… one of us has to keep our promise."

Sasuke's jaw locked. That childhood promise they had made so many years ago rang clearly in his mind.

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"_Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out. Sakura turned her head towards him expectedly. The whole team lay under the stars one starry night. They weren't on any mission, but as Team Seven were known to be so cunning, they were also very extremely laid back. Well, of course they would be. Kakashi was their leader. _

"_Yes, Naruto?" She asked peacefully. She loved when she got the time to hang out with her two favorite boys. It was like a precious moment in time where the world just seemed to slow down. _

"_How's your hand?" He asked his voice thick with concern. He reached his tan hand towards Sakura's own, but she pulled it back. _

"_It's fine."_

"_How bad are the burns?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly. From on outsider one would have assumed that he really didn't care, but Sakura could sense otherwise. _

_The other day they had gone on a mission and Sakura hand had been the recipient of a horrible burn by Sasuke's fire jutsu. It was a pure accident and she knew Sasuke felt bad for it. _

"_It's not that bad…" Lie. It was a third degree burn. _

_Sasuke inwardly grimaced, he wasn't stupid. She suddenly stood up and checked her wristwatch._

"_I'm gotta go home, my mom waiting for me," She exclaimed brushing the pieces of grass from her dress. Naruto pleaded she stay for five more minutes, but she shook her head no. "My mom is going to be worried." Sakura pointed to the cast on her arm, and smiled. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she called out as she ran off in the distance._

_The two boys sat on the grass quietly, neither of them having a family at home to return to. So they found comfort in each other's presence. _

"_She's in pain." Sasuke muttered under his breath._

"_I know." Naruto replied, his eyes still facing the sky. "Maybe if you had better aim…" Naruto said the last part under his breath, but Sasuke caught it. But he couldn't deny it. He had been so weak that he actually caused damage to one of his teammates. That's not something he had thought had been possible. It was true that she has also been in the way…so he wasn't completely at fault, but still. "We got to take better care of her." Naruto pointed out. Sasuke turned to stare at his blond friend._

"_What?"_

"_We got to promise to protect her, so that nothing like this happens again."_

"_You enjoy making promises, don't you?" Sasuke replied sarcastically, but Naruto didn't smile. _

"_I'm not joking. We got to promise each other to protect her. She's our only Sakura-chan." Naruto pointed out the obvious, but looked at Sasuke with such an honest, sincere look that Sasuke actually shuttered. "You've got to be with me on this one!"_

_Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes, "You're so dramatic."_

_Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, "Are you scared teme, you scared you're going to hurt her again?"_

"_No."_

"_Then why don't you promise?"_

"_It's stupid."_

_Naruto scoffed, "Scardey-cat." _

_Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows._

"_You're scared you're going to hurt Sakrua-chan again. I understand, you Uchiha people just can't help being violent."_

"_Shut up. Don't talk about things you know nothing about." Sasuke snarled. His stomach ached the way it did whenever someone spoke foul gibberish about his family. But…was it true? Were Uchiha's just naturally violent people?_

"_I'm just saying…there has to be some reason why it was you that burnt her…and now you don't want to make a promise to protect her…"_

"_Fine."_

"_Fine what?" Naruto asked smugly._

"_I'll join in on your loser promise."_

_Naruto smiled, "I knew you would. But we got to shake on it."_

"_Naruto…"_

"_Sasuke! It won't be a legit promise if we don't do some kind of hand motion!"_

"_Fuck Naruto," Sasuke cursed grabbing Naruto's hand forcefully into the tightest grip he could muster. "Are you happy?"_

"_Yes, then it's a promise…to protect Sakura-chan until the day we die!"_

"_Hn."_

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"_**What's my name…?"**_

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"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's head snapped towards the direction of the door, it was slightly ajar and he instantly noticed the person's eyes peering out through the darkness.

"Sakura?" He hissed. She stepped in closing the door. She shyly smiled at him.

"How do you feel?" She asked him, pulling a stool out. Sasuke nearly snapped, was she asking him how he felt?

"What the hell Sakura?" He snarled. His eyes casted over to the giant bandage on her forehead where he had thrown that piercing kunai.

"I asked you-" she started again.

Sasuke interrupted her though, "I heard what you said, and it has to be the most bull shit I've ever heard."

"I don't…" Sakura pondered again, trying to rephrase her sentence. "Was I not supposed to ask that question?"

"I threw a fucking kunai at your head."

Sakura blinked, "I know."

"Then why are you still here?" Sasuke was suddenly frustrated. How could she be so forgiving? How could she just put things behind her so easily?

"Because…that wasn't you," Sakura said it so simply, as if it was an obvious fact.

"Yes it was!" Sasuke fought to keep his voice low. It was way past visiting hours, and the last thing he needed was some psycho nurse who didn't want to be taking care of him bustling through the door. "It was me, damn it. Why are you so dense?"

"Wait…so you're angry that I'm not angry with you?"

"Yes!" Sasuke ran his hands through his hair. "I want you to be furious. I want you to hit me and scream and shout, and promise to never speak to me again."

"I can't."

Sasuke closed his eyes and his stomach churned. "I don't care if you can't. I want you to force yourself to."

Sakura shook her head, "No, I physically can't."

Sasuke looked up at her, slightly alarmed. He met her green eyes that stood out in the darkness of his room. "You're an idiot. I can kill you. I can kill Hisoka with just a snap of my finger. You cannot tell me you're oblivious to this fact." Sasuke's throat became dry by just the mere thought.

"I know…" Sakura ran her hands through her pink hair and sighed. Her head pounded insanely, and yet when she had sat in her room crowded with people and gifts, she only wanted one person to be with her. She was told that she was lucky to be alive since the kunai really hadn't been aimed to kill. He didn't intend to kill her, even in his crazed state when his senses were gone. That had to mean something…right? "…I just trust you."

Sasuke jaw locked. "Because you have obvious reasons to do so."

"I'm alive aren't I?" She retorted back. "Against all odds, I'm still alive."

Sasuke frowned; he gently took hold of her hand and held it in the light. Almost matching his wrist, Sakura had her own bruises across her wrist, except…he caused them. "This is the most minimal damage I've done to you." The bruise was quite dark, that even in the dim room. With the poor lighting from the moon, it was still very visible. "I'm dangerous."

Sakura took in a ragged breath, and for once Sasuke thought he got through to her. Though part of him wished she would stay with him unconditionally, the other part of him knew that for her sake and his, she should stay away from him.

"But I love you."

Sasuke dropped her hand like a stone, his onyx eyes uncharacteristically wide with shock. He wasn't expecting that.

"You're delusional. You're sick." He reasoned.

Sakura shook her head, "I've never been so sure of something in my entire life. I love you and that's why I keep coming back. Because I can't leave." Then she took his hand into her own and placed it over her chest. "When I'm away from you, my heart hurts ten times more than any other physical damage you could ever cause."

Those simple words, that's all it took.

Sasuke pulled Sakura towards him and crushed his lips against hers. It was careless, selfish and a dangerous move, but all those couldn't compare to the feeling of her soft pink lips against his. Heat rushed through his abdomen as he realized how much he missed her, how much he missed this. He gently pulled away from her when his cursed mark started to throb and stared deeply into her eyes. "You are aware of what you're doing, right?"

Sakura nodded and smiled. She climbed onto Sasuke's miniature stiff bed, and curled up beside him. "I know."

Sasuke let out a long slow breath. He was a demon. She was a doctor. And her son wasn't his. Such a fucked up combination, yet he didn't want to leave. He couldn't. "You're not normal."

Sakura laughed in spite of herself, "Either are you. I guess we're prefect for each other, right Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke looked at her doubtfully, honestly wondering if maybe he hit an important part of her brain. Sakura recognized the look he was giving her, even in the dark. "You don't think so, do you?"

"I think you're fucking crazy."

"That's because I'm in love with you."

"Exactly," Sasuke half smirked but humorlessly. "That is why you're crazy. You could be with anyone in this world that would gladly take you and Hisoka under their care. I can't guarantee that."

"But Hisoka loves you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "He's not even a two weeks old."

"I know and it's amazing how much he loves you. I'm his mother, I can tell." Sakura used her finger and touched his lips. "And I love you too, so all in all it's a fair deal." Sasuke parted his lips to say something more, but Sakura shook her head. "Let's talk about this later. Right now I'm tired." She yawned to add effect.

"Sakura…" Sasuke warned when he noticed she was getting cozy against his chest.

"Sasuke-kun, shut up okay? I got a freaking kunai shoved into my skull remember?" Sakura mumbled. Sasuke grunted, but placed his head on the pillow.

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Tsunade walked into Sasuke's room with a clipboard ready in hand. She had planned to see how fast his chakra levels had risen after they completely drained him of it. It might help figure out a cure to Sasuke's mark. But when she walked into the room her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

Lying on Sasuke's bed was of course Sasuke, but also Sakura. The two were peacefully sleeping, Sakura cuddled to Sasuke's waist. Tsunade fought the smile off her face.

'_Either they are the dumbest couple in the world…' _Tsunade thought as she closed the curtains in the room, attempting to lessen the light in the room. _ '…or they are the true the definition of love.'_

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"…_**I should have known better when you came around that you were gonna make me cry…"**_

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**omg. That was SO LONG. Lol, you guys are SO WELCOME. Jeez. Haha, it's my thanksgiving break…so I actually had time to write this…so yeah. Review, let me know what you think. The next chapter is going to be like a small time skip into the future…so that's where the CONFLICT starts to rise…**

**Hmm…what else…**

**OH HAPPY THANKSGIVING. **

**Reviews would make my thanksgiving ten times better XD **

**xooreoxo **


	23. Chapter 21

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

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_Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time that day. She had finally gotten back from a week long mission with Shikamaru and Neji and she could not wait to crawl into her bed with some hot coco and cuddle up with Sasuke. _

_It was late in the night and even though the two boys had offered to walk her home, she refused. She hated being treated like the weaker one amongst them and her house wasn't even in their direction anyway. So they had parted ways a few minutes ago, and she continued her long tedious walk home. She really could have just poofed herself there, but she was completely drained of her chakra, so had to stick to the normal pedestrian way to get home. _

"_Sakura-san!"_

_Sakura slowly turned her head to see an unfamiliar person heading towards her. He was quite over sized with outlandish red hair and a short untidy beard. "Hi?" She replied a bit puzzled. The man slowed his jog to a walk as he approached her. _

"_I need your help. You are the great medic-nin?" He asked in a rush. Sakura fought the urge to puff out her cheeks in annoyance. It was two in the morning without any other sign of life on these streets and this man happened to have crossed her. Seriously, where was her luck?_

"_Yes, that's me." She said. "But unfortunately I do not have enough chakra to heal you." __**Though you look pretty healthy to me… **__She added in her head, sizing up the man. But the man shook his head frantically._

"_It's not me." He pointed to a small hut behind a townhome. "My daughter, she's dying!"_

_Sakura blinked, "She's dying? How is she-"_

"_Please! Please, help me! I was going to the hospital but it seems the Heavens have blessed me with your presence!" The man had already grabbed Sakura's arm, leading her towards the hut. Sakura, without chakra, knew that she wouldn't be able to do much in such a severe situation, but at the same time knew she had to at least try. So when they arrived at the dark dewy hut she prepared herself for what she assumed was going to be the most challenging patient ever._

"_Wait…" Sakura stopped midway in the hut when she noticed that first, there was no little girl in the diminutive dark room, but the posters on the walls were what really stopped her in her tracks. They were pictures of…her. Her eyes, her body, her hair. Especially her hair. There were pictures of her smiling with Naruto, pictures with the girls, pictures with children, pictures with Hisoka, pictures with Sasuke, pictures taking when she wasn't even __**aware. **_

_**CLICK.**_

_Sakura turned around in time to see the man with a camera in his hands and a sadistic smile on his face with a crazed kind of look in his eyes. "I'll call this the before picture." _

_Sakura's mouth hung open, unaware of what to say, how the hell to even react in a situation like this. _

"_I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, Sakura-san." The man replied his creepy smile growing. Sakura shook her head slightly, snapping out of her confused state._

"_I can see there's no child here." She said calmly and slowly. "So I must be leaving now." She headed for the door, but the man grasped her pink hair yanking her to the ground. Sakura let out a loud scream, somewhat from shock, but mostly from pain. Her head collided with the ground hard which slowed her from recovering from the floor, and dashing towards the exit. Swiftly the man got on top of her, squishing her with his obnoxious weight. _

"_Oh God, you're so lovely." He murmured while sniffing her neck. Sakura shivered visibly. And used her arms to try and shove him off, but for an average person he was very robust. To make matters worse she was completely out of chakra for her monstrous strength to even be effective. _

"_Get off me!" She shouted at him, but the man paid no heed to her screams. He continued smelling her neck, brushing his hands roughly through her hair. "Stop it!" She struggled to turn her head, kicked her legs, anything to get this man off her. But it was pointless. He was stronger than her. Yet she still fought against him. She fought till her legs couldn't move again, and her arms went numb. _

_There was a point where she could no longer feel his coarse touches, till she couldn't feel his bare skin pressed against her soft skin, till she couldn't feel his wet murky kisses. He was disgusting, and through him she felt disgusted, not at all how she felt when she was with Sasuke. When she was with Sasuke she felt so refreshed like stepping out of a cooling shower. So revived…so…huh. Wait. What was Sasuke doing at this moment and time? By now he would have gone off the deep end worrying about her, she did promise him she'd be home by this time. _

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"_**But you're still on my lonely mind…"**_

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_Sasuke tapped his finger on the kitchen counter restlessly. He wasn't worried. At least that's what he kept telling himself. His frown deepened as the clock signaled that it was already three o'clock in the morning. Hisoka was sound asleep in his crib, and like a perfect child would not stir till exactly nine in the morning. _

_Sasuke seriously contemplated looking for Sakura and leaving Hisoka at home. Though a strange sense of…fear let's say, about what Sakura would say when she found out he abandoned her son at home just for the mere sake that he was worried about his nineteen year old girlfriend whom was clearly capable of taking care of herself. Sasuke sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It wasn't like this was the first time she hasn't been home on time and previously he had always ended up searching for her, but this time she was way too late. She didn't even send anyone or call him to tell him she was running late. _

_Sasuke sighed again, seriously pondering the situation. He did have something that could ease all his worries and calm his mad stomach. Sasuke felt in his back pocket and felt a small metallic radar in it. Now don't jump to conclusions and instantly think that Sasuke was a freakishly weird stalker, because he wasn't. He just had a tracker for his little cherry blossom. He would attach the reciprocal device to Sakura's bra strap before she would go on any missions. She was completely oblivious, to this of course, for if she happened to know she would break his neck. _

_He's never had to think about using it until this very moment, and as he stood fingering the now turned off object, he wondered if it was worth invading her privacy like this. Sasuke clenched his jaw, and turned the object on. It couldn't help just seeing where she was…I mean if she's at Ino's house no biggie, but if she's lying in a remote area passed out from heat exhaustion, he should at least have the right to know. _

_Suddenly the machine beeped to life and a single red dot signaled Sakura's location within the Konoha boundaries. But Sasuke frowned when his eyes scanned over the street name. _

"_Tea Leaf Street…?" Sasuke murmured out loud. There was no reason for her to stop there. There was only a few stores that would be closed up now, and some random shack that used to creep Sasuke out whenever he passes it. Sasuke's heart skipped a bit finally realizing the great possibility, that for a reason inexplicable to him, Sakura could be in that shack. _

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_Sakura's head was turned to its side as her eyes stared blankly at the walls while the grotesque man did horrid things to her body. She had to admit, when she tuned out his moaning and grunting and groping, it wasn't so bad. And while he was adulterating her, at least he had the courtesy to have photos on the wall to distract her. Her eyes lingered on the picture with Sasuke and her. She had thrown her arms carelessly around his neck, face to face, as she tiptoed to stare into his onyx eyes. She remembered that day. He had just promised to decline the mission so he could be there for Hisoka's first day at the Pre-Academy and she was beyond thrilled. So thrilled in fact that she had spontaneously kissed him in public, though this freak managed to capture the few seconds just before that. Sakura felt tears well up in eyes. She loved Sasuke she truly did. And he's done so much for her and what could she do for him? Well for one thing she defiantly couldn't remain pure for him. This man was literally shoving himself within her breaking her from the inside, a place that she had always reserved for Sasuke. No one else. She's been with him for roughly three years (ignoring the 9 month break-up) and she's managed to control her womanly urges so that she could be with him, and only him, when he was fully ready._

_And now she couldn't even give him that…give him herself completely untouched._

"_You fucking bastard!" The grizzly shout was so loud that it literally shook Sakura out of her trance. The man on top of her was shoved off with superhuman strength and almost immediately his face was replaced with Sasuke's concerned one._

"_Sa-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura managed to form the words with her lips. Sasuke didn't say anything but simply wiped her forehead from sweat. He stood back up and viciously stared at the man that was cradling his nose._

"_Sasuke Uchiha!" He spat out blood from his mouth. "You despicable bastard! You stole my future wife away from me!"_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Had this man fucking lost his mind? This fucking idiot had the fucking nerve to touch __**his**__ Sakura. Sasuke's stomach churned. If he hadn't have come here in time…his eyes shifted back over to Sakura who was now trying to sit up, her arms were shaking. _

_The inane man started a low chuckle that regained Sasuke's attention. _

"_What the hell are you laughing for?" he spat. The man stood up and wiped the blood away from his mouth. He walked over to him and courageously stood a mere three feet away from him. _

"_I fucked her."_

_Sasuke's jaw clenched. _

"_I fucked her hard." The man spat on his shoe. "Fucked her in a way that __**you**__ could never have."_

_He barely had a chance to get the last words out of his mouth before Sasuke had blasted his chidori through his cranium. He heard Sakura gasp as blood splattered everywhere and his limp body slumped to the ground. _

"_Oh my gosh…" _

_Sasuke casually wiped the blood off his nose and glanced back over to Sakura. "Are you hurt?"_

"…_." Sakura looked away from him ashamed. What was she supposed to say? She had just lost her virginity to a stranger. Was she hurt? Of course she was. She had been saving that for him, and just him. Sasuke took her silence as a 'No' and picked her up. _

"_Then let's get out of here." He took one more look at the walls and shuddered inwardly. This man had an odd obsession with Sakura, and who knows who else had such a freakish fetish about her. _

_He stood up and kicked the door open leaving the rotten carrion for the police when he called them in the morning. _

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"_**I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad…"**_

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"_I'm sorry." She blurted. Sasuke looked down at the Sakura straddled in his arms. They had just gotten home and Sakura was the first to burst into the shower. Now they lay together on their beds both silent up until this point. _

"_For what?" _

"_I didn't-I wasn't strong enough to fight him off." She mumbled into his chest. Sasuke inhaled her soft strawberry shampoo aroma. _

"_Sakura, I'm not blaming you for anything."_

"_But I'm so dirty! I can't-" Her voice started to rise, but Sasuke quickly covered her mouth with his lips and silenced her. He pulled away first and looked her in the eyes as he said these words. _

"_Shut up." Sasuke looked at her teary emerald eyes. "You still smell the same, look the same, and taste the same. If I had any reason to be disturbed that a repulsive man touched you then I would have left you where you were."_

_Sakura sniffed at his words. Sometimes Sasuke was just way too sweet. "So you're saying that I'm still perfect for you Sasuke-kun?"_

_Sasuke snorted. "If that's how you want to phrase it."_

_Sakura smiled sweetly at him and then reluctantly kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Sasuke-kun."_

_He placed his head on his pillow and used his hand to brush Sakura's soft pink hair. "I know."_

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"_**A child sleeping in the night…he will bring us goodness and light…."**_

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C.H.A.P.T.E.R 2.0.

"I'll see you later." Sakura said as she kissed Sasuke softly on the cheek. Hisoka grasped onto her hand and crunched his fingers at Sasuke signaling a tiny wave.

"Wait for me by the swing." Sasuke ordered. Hisoka nodded and started tugging his mother's arm anxiously. Sakura laughed at his excitement and blew Sasuke a kiss as she closed the door behind her. Sasuke stared at their retreating form for just a bit longer but then turned his attention to the fridge. At two o'clock he just had to remember to pick Hisoka up from school.

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"And then my Dad taught me how to do this massive punch that can knock any ninja out!" Kaori bragged doing the quick motion with his fist. Hisoka stared at him in awe. Class had just ended a few minutes ago and the two of them walked casually towards the exit while all the other children scrambled to get out.

Kaori grinned brightly, "It's so wicked! I can teach it to you later!" Hisoka nodded excitedly. Kaori laughed. For some odd reason his best friend never spoke. But he barely noticed, to him Hisoka was the biggest blabber mouth in the entire world.

They exited the building and Kaori's exuberant smile grew once he saw his father standing outside. "Dad!" He shouted even though Naruto was already staring at him. He scampered over to him with Hisoka in his grasp and greeted his dad.

"Hey kids! How was school?" Naruto asked holding taking Kaori's backpack from him and swinging over his back.

"GREAT!" Kaori pumped his fist in the air. His pale blue eyes looked at Hisoka accusingly. "Aren't you going to tell him?"

Hisoka smiled shyly and looked away quickly.

Kaori laughed as Naruto looked at them expectedly. "Dad! You wouldn't believe it! Hisoka got promoted to my class!"

Naruto's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Yeah! Now he sits next to me, which is so cool!" Kaori elbowed Hisoka in the rib, and Hisoka swatted his arm playfully. "He helps me out in all the boring wordy stuff, but I can teach him stuff with the hand to hand COMBAT! It's so sick!"

Naruto grinned. Kaori's enthusiasm over everything always managed to brighten the atmosphere, and everyone was so astonished on how much he acted just like himself at a younger age. Kaori was only about five years old yet he spoke with such vigor as someone twice his age.

"Oi, dobe."

Sasuke strolled over to them with his hands in his pockets. Hisoka smiled excitedly at the sight of his father and ran up to him to give him a hug. Sasuke ran his hands through his hair. "How was school?" He asked Kaori, knowing very well that Hisoka wouldn't answer.

"AWESOME! The most amazing thing happened today!" Kaori said excitedly. "Hisoka got promoted!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto to see if were true. Kaori did have a thing for stretching the truth just a bit. But Naruto smiled as well.

"Yeah, Hisoka's Uchiha gene must be kicking in!" Naruto smiled, but then quickly realized what he just said. Sasuke's face faltered a bit. Hisoka wasn't a real Uchiha, just a manufactured one. In fact it wasn't even his child, though sometimes he even forgot.

Sasuke ignored the passing feeling, and then smirked at Hisoka. "Well, I can't wait to see Mom's reaction." Hisoka nodded in excitement and then smiled at Kaori and Naruto. Sasuke shuffled Hisoka by his side and waved goodbye to the blondes as they headed home.

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"_**My illusion my mistake…"**_

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"What do you want tonight?" Sasuke asked once Hisoka placed his backpack on his couch. Hisoka ran into the fridge and opened it pulling out a container filled with tomatoes. Sasuke smirked. "Okay, but you got to eat with another dish." Hisoka nodded and ran outside to practice his kunai throwing. Sasuke watched him as he excitedly played in the backyard. Sasuke and Sakura had decided to move into a bigger house that was more family-orientated to make things appear more normal plus it was closer to the Uzamaki's residence, so it wasn't odd if he saw Kaori jump the fence and join Hisoka outside.

Sasuke placed some rice in the microwave and then turned his back from the window. He glanced at the calendar narrowing his eyes. It wasn't like he wasn't happy with his new 'family', because he was. But then there was always that constant voice nagging him in the back of his mind. The voice that was nagging him about the grace period that he's been allowed to have. Things have been too quiet, too peaceful. Especially with psychos like Kabuto, Orochimaru and Itachi still breathing the same air he is.

'_Itachi…'_ Sasuke thought bitterly. How long had he put that little mission of his on hold? Four, five years? Damn by the time he gets time to actually look for Itachi, he'd probably have died off from old age.

_**THUMP.**_

Sasuke heard an odd noise coming from outside and quickly glanced out the window. His breath got hitched in his throat at the sight.

There, Hisoka lay motionless on the ground.

Sasuke sprinted through the glass sliding doors and out into the yard. He quickly turned Hisoka over so his face faced him. His nose and forehead was bleeding furiously, and there were tons of scratches on his arm. Sasuke glanced around for any clue for any sign for what the hell just happened. Instantly his mind screamed: Itachi! Kabuto! Orochimaru!

But in reality there was a fallen branch on the floor, and Sasuke quickly glued two and two together. Hisoka had fallen out of the tree.

He quickly carried Hisoka over his shoulder and ran out of his house.

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"_**It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now…"**_

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Naruto opened his door after an insane person had been pounding on it for the past two minutes, nearly knocking the bloody door off its hinges.

"Sasuke-teme? What are you-?" Naruto's voice was cut off from the horrific sight of Hisoka's blood seeping through Sasuke's shirt. "Oh, shit."

Sasuke shoved himself passed him and quickly glanced around, "Is Hinata here? I remember Sakura saying she can heal."

Naruto nodded and started heading towards his bedroom to wake her up, but then halted. "Why don't you just take him to Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke stared at him intensely, "If something happened to Kaori under your care, would you take him to Hinata?"

Naruto pursed his lips, and headed towards his bedroom to call Hinata. In the meantime Sasuke heard a toilet flush and out of the bathroom stood Kaori.

"WAH!" He shouted. "What happened to Hisoka!" He quickly gambled his way over to touch Hisoka's limp arm.

"He fell."

Naruto bustled out of his bedroom with a very pregnant Hinata following. She looked at Hisoka carefully from the distance.

"O-o-h. Please Sasuke-san, place him on the dining room table." She said softly. It took a moment for Sasuke to register what she said, since the initial shock of Hinata being pregnant hadn't completely worn out yet. She bent over the table and her hands started to glow a very faint purple, and for a while nothing happened but then the bleeding started to stop.

Sasuke let out breath that he didn't even know he was holding once color started to return to Hisoka's face. Though she was much slower than Sakura at healing, she was still efficient.

"T-there you go," Hinata smiled softly as Hisoka started to blink. "T-take your time Hisoka-kun." She advised as he slowly sat up. Kaori ran over to him and looked at him full with concern.

"You okay!" He asked. Hisoka nodded limply, his tiny palms cradling his head as a massive headache took over. Hinata gently took his hand away from his face, and bandaged it.

"I-it's just a bit fra-fractured." She told Sasuke. Sasuke nodded in response. It could have been a lot worse.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. But then his eyes scattered over to her stomach. "I didn't know you were expecting another." Hinata blushed.

"N-Naruto-kun, you didn't tell him?"

Naruto frowned. "I told him like six times." Sasuke looked at him slightly confused. He must tune Naruto out more often than he thought. "Well for the last time teme….Hinata-chan's pregnant with a girl."

Sasuke blinked. "Huh, congratulations." Sasuke thought the comment sounded a little sour than he intended and he's pretty sure that Naruto picked up on it, but didn't respond. He just stared at him quietly, concern thick in his eyes.

"Yeah! I'm going to be a big brother!" Kaori shouted excitedly. "I'm going to be the best big brother anyone could ever have!"

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"_**This love is killing me but you're the only one…"**_

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Sasuke lay in bed late that night as heard Sakura silently creep up the stairs. She bent over him and gently kissed him on the nose.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun…" She whispered. Sasuke didn't respond, but Sakura continued. "I just went in to check in on Hisoka, he has a bandage around his left arm, do you know why?" She asked completely oblivious. She removed her white lab coat revealing totally unflattering slacks.

"He fell."

"What?" Sakura said startled.

"He fell from a tree."

Sakura's hand swiftly covered her chest. Her mouth became dry. "Is he okay? What did you do? Did you get hel-"

"Hinata healed him." Sasuke whispered, not looking at her. And though he couldn't see her expression on her face, he could feel her relief.

"Thank goodness."

"…"

She went into the shower, and Sasuke heard her hum a soft tune. He tightened his fist, clearly agitated.

"…_**Hinata-chan's pregnant with a girl."**_

He didn't understand why that got under his skin so much. Was it the fact that Naruto was having a girl? No, he didn't really fancy the idea of having a daughter. They were too much trouble. But then his eyes darkened and his jaw locked. He stared angrily at the fan on the ceiling. He knew exactly why he was upset.

Naruto not only had one child to call his own, but two. Two freaking children and he had none. Hisoka wasn't his, no matter how much his brain had fooled him into thinking so. Sure he's raised him from birth and if Hisoka could talk, would most likely call him 'father.' But he wasn't.

"Hey what are you thinking about?" Sasuke, surprisingly, looked to his side, and Sakura had already got under the bed sheets with only a navy towel wrapped around her. Her hair was still damp making it look darker shade of pink than it already was. Sasuke sighed.

"Naruto's having another child."

Sakura placed a gentle finger on his forearm. "I know. Does it bother you?"

"No," Sasuke strained his eyes in the dark. "I don't know."

"Sasuke-kun, if you're not happy-"

"Go to sleep." He interrupted. Sakura looked taken a back but then swallowed loudly. She shifted in the bed, and when Sasuke turned to look at her, her back was facing her. Her curly damp pink hair was all he could see. He reached towards her hair, but she quickly gathered it all in her hands and swung it over her shoulder, completely out of his grasp. He grunted in annoyance and turned his back on her childishly. He hasn't remembered a day when they didn't sleep in each other's arm.

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"We could try…" Sakura piped up after fifteen minutes of silence had passed. For a moment she thought Sasuke had fallen asleep, but a quick shift in position and she knew otherwise. "…we could try to have a child."

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura sat up quickly. "We _can_ do this!"

"I'm not taking my chances."

"We've been together for like five years! I think your cursed mark has gotten used to me by now!"

"I'm not taking chances." Sasuke repeated with a bit more venom. "If you want a quick fuck, I'm sure you can find someone." Sasuke instantly regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

He heard Sakura gasp and then swiftly scramble out of the bed.

He sat up, "That's not what I meant."

Sakura ignored him and grabbed her clothes from her dresser, throwing on a black summer dress.

"Sakura." Sasuke said tiredly.

"What, Sasuke-kun? Obviously you think I'm some kind of whore, just because of that one incident!" Sakura snapped. "I knew it bothered you more than you let on!"

"That was three years ago." Sasuke retorted.

"Well we all know how you can hold on to things for years!" Sakura shouted. She quickly grasped the door handle, but Sasuke was by her side in an instant. He held her wrist tightly. "Let go of me!"

"Where are you going?"

"Hm, I don't know. Maybe I should go find a random man to fuck me again?" She spat. "Isn't that what you want?"

"That's not what I meant." Sasuke repeated again. He quickly grabbed onto her waist and then spun her around so that she was facing him. He pressed her against the door. "I just don't want to cross boundaries." He said huskily as he felt her smallish body against his stony physique. He could feel her shiver under his touch.

"Really, are you sure you just don't want to get too attached to me?" She whispered.

"What?" Sasuke pulled back slightly startled.

"You don't want to get too attached to me, because you want to leave." Sakura's voice rose as anger seeped into her voice. She pounded his chest angrily. "You just want to leave! Don't you!"

Sasuke looked down at her completely thrown off guard. "Sakura-" But was he going to say? He couldn't lie. He had things to accomplish, people to kill before his mind could be at peace. Before he could sit down and start a family. "-It's not that simple."

Sakura looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "That's why you don't want to marry me."

"…"

"That's why you haven't proposed again isn't it?"

Sasuke open his mouth to retaliate, but nothing came out. Nothing.

"I'm not going to stop you. I can never compete with your revenge. I never could." She shoved him away from her and stared at him wearily in the eyes. "Itachi's more important that I could ever be."

Sasuke now baffled just stared at her as she withdrew from him. "That's not true." As much as he was sure he was Sasuke Uchiha, he was sure of that. There was no way Itachi mattered more than her. He may be obsessed with revenge, but he wasn't stupid. "If it were, I would have left a long time ago. Not now."

"Sasuke-kun…stop it." Sakura wiped her tears. "Just stop lying."

"You've never known me to be a liar." Sasuke took another step towards her. "Itachi may be important. But he isn't the most important thing, he may cloud my judgment and actions, but he can't control my emotions." He was now in a close enough range to grab her from behind and pull him towards her. He placed a heated kiss on her lips, and Sakura quickly deepened it. She wrapped her legs around his and Sasuke lifted her quickly onto the bed. Her fingers clasped themselves into Sasuke's hair as Sasuke nibbled on her neck…but then the door opened. Sasuke flung himself off of her when he heard the noise, and still panting quickly looked at the door to see a teary Hisoka.

Sakura adjusted her dress, "H-hey Hisoka-kun. Is your arm hurting?"

Hisoka nodded and scrambled over to their bed and climbed onto it. Sasuke fought back an irritated groan as Sakura smiled an apologetic smile at him.

"Do you want to sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight?" she asked, but Hisoka had already fallen asleep under the sheets. Sakura sighed and brushed his raven locks out of his hair.

Sasuke stood up and closed the door firmly, while Sakura got comfortable under the sheets. "Goodnight Sasuke-kun." Sasuke nodded in response as he climbed into the other side of the bed.

As the night dragged on he listened to Sakura and Hisoka's steady breathing that usually would lull him back to sleep, but for some reason it couldn't tonight. Something was scratching at his brain in the back of his mind; something telling him that what Sakura was saying previously was spot on. He wanted to leave.

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"…_**told you I'd be here forever…"**_

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**Tear drop.**

**Hahaha, so TA!da! This took more time that I wanted it to, and it even took a whole different turn than I had expected it too. …so we'll see how I work this out. Lol. But the reason why this chapter was so late was because I was caught up in that trilogy of the Hunger Games! Omg! I just finished MockingJay and let me say, that book was HORRIBLE. She totally rushed the ending, and ugh. It didn't even make any sense. I was so angry! So freaking angry! Jeez!**

**Reviews would make my anger about the Hunger Games vanish! **

**Xoooreoxo**

**(ignore grammar and spelling mistakes)**


	24. Chapter 22 Christmas Special!

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

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Chapter 22

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(Happy Holidays)

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"_**Rudolph the red nose reindeer…" **_

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Sasuke turned the key in its latch and entered into the dark living room. He flicked the light switch tiredly and dropped his hand almost as if it weighed twenty pounds more than it usually does.

"Where have you been?"

Sasuke, startled, sharply turned his head and peaked into the living room and saw Sakura sitting in his navy arm chair. She had a large box of tangled Christmas lights in her hand and was fingering them casually.

"Why are you still up?" He asked without answering her question, suspiciously eyeing the Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Was it already December?

"You were supposed to be back three days ago." Sakura stood up and straightened her oversized gray t-shirt. She placed the lights on the tree and then bent down to plug the socket into the wall. The lights lit up the dim room with a lovely calming red glow. She turned around to catch Sasuke watching her. "We did the tree without you."

"We?"

"Me and Hisoka." Sakura narrowed her green eyes at him. "He misses you."

"I'm still here." Sasuke shrugged placing his hands in his pockets. "The mission took longer than we thought it was going to." He lied.

Sakura stared at him softly for a moment. "Recently, your missions always drag on longer than you expect them to."

"Well what do you want me to do?" Sasuke snapped defensively. Sakura bit her bottom lip and looked away from him, touching the tree. Sasuke instantly regretted hurting her. He had to admit, for the past four months he has been quite alias. But he had a justified reason. He would finish the mission early and then spend the extra time hunting his brother down. Usually the leads were all false, and he was able to get home early without any suspicion from Sakura. But on this mission he was on a hot trail, he knew he was. Sasuke's fist tightened in his pockets. He had been so close, but then three extra days was enough to have Sakura worry. Especially when his below average teammates had come home before him, he had to believe that Sakura would be concerned about his whereabouts. "Sakura…" he started again in a much gentler tone.

She looked up at him expectedly as he closed the distant space between them. She slowly placed her tiny palms on his chest and felt his heart beating with a constant rhythm under his chest. Her dazzling emerald eyes pierced his endless onyx eyes as she stared at him intently, almost looking for an answer she couldn't find. She grabbed the cloth around her hands in frustration and her arms trembled uncontrollably. Sasuke watched her unsure of what Sakura was going through in her head.

"I'm going to sleep." She muttered mutely. She let go of his fabric and walked passed him without acknowledging him. She slowly made her way up the stairs without a look back at him, and Sasuke felt for the first time in five years that Sakura was slowly slipping away from him.

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"_**Oh Holy Night…"**_

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"Oi! So you're alive?" Naruto greeted Sasuke by patting him hard on his back. Sasuke grunted in response, and tightened his black woolen scarf. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was winter. Naruto grinned and shook his blond locks, relieving them of some fallen snow. "I thought we were going to have a funeral for you after your teammates came back from that mission."

"I hardly doubt they came back saying I was dead." Sasuke eyed Naruto suspiciously.

"No they didn't." Naruto chuckled. "But it wasn't cool to see Hisoka's reaction when they came home without you. The poor kid thought you were dead."

"But I'm not."

"I know. I said he _thought_ you were." Naruto repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What's eating you up? Get into the holiday spirit Teme!"

"I hate the fucking holidays." He snapped. Sasuke kicked a snowman as he continued his stroll down the road. Naruto gasped.

"Hate the holidays!" Naruto placed a gloved hand over his chest. "How can you hate the holidays! It's filled with such spirit, colors, and snow! Heck they even got peppermint ramen!"

"If you're going to start a song, I'll punch you in your face."

Naruto ignored him. "It's amazing how Sakura-chan puts up with you. You're such a Grinch." But after he made that statement he instantly felt Sasuke's mood fall hard. Naruto placed a gentle hand on Sasuke's shoulder that got him to stop walking. "What's_ really_ bothering you?"

"Did I say anything was bothering me?" Sasuke frowned, averting his eyes from Naruto's annoyingly cheerful blue ones.

"Teme, you don't have to say anything for me to know that there's something wrong. I've known you long enough." Sasuke stared at him for a moment and then shook his head frigidly. He stared off into the distance, his gaze hardened,

"I'm not on best terms with Sakura."

Naruto snorted. "Duh, you're such a pain in the ass."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, a deep v forming in the middle of them. "No, you fucking idiot." He blew out some hot air, watching his breath disperse in the cold brisk December air. "It's different."

Naruto dropped his hand from Sasuke's shoulder. "Are you guys not having _sex_?" He whispered the last word as a happy couple passed by them swiftly.

Sasuke barred his teeth. "We don't have sex."

"Well, there's your problem." Naruto threw his hands in the air as if it were the most obvious answer on the planet. "If you're not having sex then maybe that's why she's annoyed. You're not satisfying her. I was going through one of Ino's magazines, and there was this one part where it was saying that if you want a healthy relationship, you got to have amazing sex. I mean me and Hinata-chan are just fine in that department, I pretty sure I-"

"We've never done it." Sasuke interrupted. He started to kick some snow off his winter boots, but he could feel the invisible heat rise up to his ears. Admitting it was harder than he thought. Naruto was silent for some moment and then cleared his throat.

"Never?" He whispered.

"Never." Sasuke repeated.

"I…I don't understand. _**Never!**_"

"Naruto." Sasuke warned, looking up from his shoes to glare at him.

Naruto threw up his arms defensively. "Sorry, it's just that…"

"…"

Naruto squinted his cerulean eyes and eyed Sasuke carefully, "…you've been with Sakura-chan for about five whole years."

"I know."

"Don't you think-"

"No."

"…but five years?"

"I said no." Sasuke's voice sounded irritated. "I'm not taking that risk."

Naruto shrugged, "Then you're taking the risk of screwing up your entire relationship." Sasuke held his gaze for a moment, but then his rock hard shield flickered a bit.

"You don't think that's why she's acting weird?" He muttered under his breath. "It never bothered her before."

"Oh I'm sure it bothered her." Naruto reasoned. "She just didn't want to say it. That's how Sakura-chan is. Plus you're not so easy to deal with, you're annoying as hell, disappear on missions, and then after that I'm sure you don't even give her a freaking hug when you see her."

"..."

"Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed as well." Naruto then grinned and pointed to the shopping bags he'd been carrying all this time in his left hand. "You better get her an amazing gift to make up for shitty behavior."

"A gift?"

Naruto blinked. "Duh. Holidays? Christmas? Like seriously, do you live on this planet?" Sasuke punched him hard on his arm. Naruto dropped the bags onto the wet white snow, and glowered at Sasuke. "I'm just saying that you might want to get her an amazing gift, just to show her that you care."

"Fine." Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and then started to walk away from him, but then firmly stated, "If this idea of yours doesn't work, it's your fucking fault."

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"_**All I want for Christmas is you…"**_

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"He can just be so infuriating!" Sakura whispered harshly. She was at the flower shop during Ino's break and the two young ladies were casually sitting outside sipping some hot cocoa. Sakura, in a blue fleece jacket, shivered as some cold wind harshly blew. "He just walks in late last night with the biggest attitude, like I'm in the wrong for asking him where he was."

Ino pouted, "Billboard-brow, you knew that's how Sasuke is going into this relationship." She sipped some of her beverage, and then blew some of the hot air onto her frozen finger tips. "He's so stubborn, but I'm pretty sure he didn't mean you any harm."

Sakura shook her head. "No, it's not like that. It's like recently he's just…not interested in me." Sakura let out a shaky breath. "He doesn't even run his fingers through my hair like he always does…" Her voice trailed off as she stared into her milk.

Ino sighed and reached over to touch her best friend's hand. "I'm sure he's just going through a hard time. Isn't it like the 15th anniversary of his parent's death coming up?" Sakura looked up from her drink quickly. Her bright green eyes widened.

"Yeah, on the 24th. Oh no, you don't think that could be it?"

Ino pulled back and leaned on her chair. "I think so. Why else would he behaving so weird? You know how that day always seems to irk him into some strange behavior."

"It does…" Sakura's face lit up. "I just had a brilliant idea!"

Ino smiled in response to Sakura's contagious smile. "Good." She stood up and reached over to give Sakura a huge hug. "I'll see you later billboard-brow. I gotta get back to work."

Sakura shook her head, "Of course." Her smile still sparkled like the fresh white snow. "I'll see you later Ino-pig!" And with that she playfully poked Ino on her nose and ran off into the distance.

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"'_**Tis the season to be jolly…Fa La La La…"**_

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"What am I gonna get my Dad and Mommy for Christmas you ask?" Kaori blurted after passing Hisoka the crayon. Hisoka nodded excitedly. They sat together in Kaori's bedroom as Hinata was across the tending to the new born baby. Kaori lowered his voice so that his mother wouldn't hear. "I'm going to get them…" Kaori looked around to make sure no one was looking. "… a sweater." Hisoka's eyes widened. Kaori scrambled off his mini orange plastic chair and reached under his bed. He pulled out a brown box and then lifted the lid. "See." He motioned Hisoka over to where he was. Hisoka touched the fabric, his onyx eyes wide.

"Tenten helped me sew it! And then she gave me some paint to paint anything I want!" Hisoka fingered the childish designs on one of the sweaters. "Is it cool?"

Hisoka nodded again, admiration in his eyes. Kaori grinned, "Great! Then I'm going to give this to Mika!" Kaori held up a tiny pink bracelet. "You can get something for my little sister too! I'll help you wrap it!" Hisoka's smile widened, and then Hinata walked into the room holding Mika in her arms. Kaori quickly stuffed all the gifts under his bed and smiled childishly at his mom.

"H-hey boys. A-a-are you hungry?" She asked sweetly.

Kaori jumped up, "No thanks Mommy!" He grabbed Hisoka's arm and pulled it hard. "Hisoka wants to get some Christmas gifts today before it gets dark!" Hisoka felt blush creep onto his cheeks as he hid behind Kaori who was smiling gleefully.

Hinata giggled at Kaori's enthusiasm. "M-m-make sure you come home before dark though. Okay?"

"'Kay!" Kaori reached into his closet and grabbed his and Hisoka's coat. "Come on! Before they take all the good stuff!"

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"_**Frosty the snowman…"**_

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Finally, after digging through all the unique vintage stores in town, Sasuke came across a lovely golden dress. It was long an elegant, and somewhere in the back of his mind he vaguely remembered Sakura complaining that she didn't have one of these. It was backless, which Sasuke liked, and was tight around the waist but then hung loosely towards the bottom.

Sasuke felt quite proud of his find and headed towards the cashier to pay for it when a short shriveled old woman scampered by him, knocking him in the side. He grunted irritated, seriously considering insulting the old hag, when something shiny caught his eye. It was tucked carefully under black hooded coat.

"Next!"

Sasuke snapped out of his trance and realized that he was next in line. He hesitantly placed the golden dress on the counter, but his eyes followed the old hag who was now exiting the store.

"Sir!"

Sasuke glared at him. How dare he intervene while he was trying to concentrate?

"I need you to let go of the dress so I can ring it up!" The freckled man said, clearly annoyed. Sasuke heard the door ring, signaling that the old lady had left the store.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Hold this dress."

The man sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "This is the last one. It's highly popular."

"I don't care."

"I do." The man harshly snatched the dress out of Sasuke's grasp. "Either you pay for it now, or you risk not getting the dress at all. Your choice pretty boy."

Sasuke bit his lower lip in frustration. If he waited too long that lady would be gone, and whatever she had under that cloak would be gone too. Sasuke groaned and left the dress on the counter, and right before he left the store he saw the lady behind him purchase that same exact dress.

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"Hold up!" Sasuke called out, pushing his way through the crowd. Though it was only December 23rd, the streets were filled with villagers getting their last minute shopping done. Yet the old lady weaved her way through the crowd like a worm. Sasuke's jaw locked. He'd be damned if he lost this lady_ and_ lost that dress…because then that would lead to him possibly loosing Sakura. He chewed the inside of his mouth attempting to clear out that thought.

He finally reached a breakthrough in the crowd and saw the old women turn into an abandoned alley.

Sasuke followed her, "Hey women!" He called out stepping into the dark alley cautiously. His placed his hand on the wall and felt its dampness.

"Why are you following me?" She turned around quickly to face him, her face was covered in lumpy warts and her incisor tooth hung out of her mouth like it was about to fall out. Sasuke grimaced.

"Let me see what's under your cloak."

"What is it what you want deary?" She asked raising her eyebrow cheekily.

"That." Sasuke pointed to the item hanging out of her coat.

The old women's eyes widened. "Oh this." She slowly reached under her cloak and pulled out a white hair brush. It was coated in silver shimmery paint that glistened even in this dim alley. The bristles were made from golden leaves that were twined together to form the tiny bristles. The women handed the brush towards Sasuke and he took it cautiously. He turned it over in his hands feeling every inch of the elegant brush. Its handle fit perfectly into his grasp and almost felt like it morphed so that it would fit his grip.

"How much is it?" Sasuke asked after a moment of admiration had passed. The women quickly snatched the brush out of his hand and placed it back in her pocket.

"Not for sale." She quickly said as she turned her back to scurry deeper into the dark alley. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. If there's one thing Sakura loved besides her family, friends, and her job, it would have to be her hair. He couldn't blame her either, because that's what he loved about her as well. Her luscious pink hair. In the morning she would sit in the morning and brush her hair out with an ordinary black brush, but what if she had this royal silver brush…it could be what he needed to make things better between them.

"I'll pay anything." Sasuke offered rashly. He reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet but the lady held her hand up.

"Not for sale." She repeated more harshly and continued her walk into the alley. The old women picked up her pace and sprinted down the alleyway that reached up to a tiny yellow one story bungalow. She quickly pulled out her key chain that had at least a hundred rusty keys attached to it. It took her some time to find the actual key to the door, so Sasuke had time to catch up with her. He grabbed her hand viciously.

"How much?" he hissed. The women glared at him madly and opened her door.

"Not for sale." She was about to slam the door shut, but then Sasuke stuck his foot in the door. He pushed the door open with palm and what he saw inside the house actually caused him to catch his breath. Inside the walls were covered from wall to wall with china dolls. They were different sizes, different colors and different looks. They were scattered on the sofa, on the kitchen tables and dangling from the ceiling lamps.

"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath his eyes wide. The little old woman stood before him with the brush in one hand and a doll in the other. She stared at him as she brushed the golden locks on the china doll. Sasuke removed his eyes from the hideous house and stared hard at the old woman. He blew out hot air. "I have something that just might change your mind."

The woman raised a single gray eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Sasuke shifted the weight from one foot to the other. "I have a rare doll you might like."

"Doubt it." She snarled still brushing her creepy doll.

"Believe it or not," Sasuke shrugged. "It belonged to my great grandmother. It's the only one of its kind."

The women paused and licked her top lip. "You're the last Uchiha right?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"So this doll…it must be one of the only things left of your family that has extreme value." She observed, sizing Sasuke up. Sasuke looked away from her.

"What's it to you?" He demanded.

"This must be a very important gift for you." She placed the doll on the table and held the brush in the air. "You have a deal. You bring me your grandmother's doll and I'll give you the brush."

Sasuke smirked, "Deal."

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"They're singing deck the halls…"

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Sakura placed her hands on her hips as she stared through another clear window display. She could not find anything that would be perfect for Sasuke's Christmas/Anniversary of his dead parent's birthday. She looked at the kunai store but then she remembered she got him a special kunai for his birthday. Then she saw a tie store, but then remembered she got him a tie for Father's day. So what could she get him?

Sakura blew air from her lips and placed her gloved hands against the ice cold glass window in exhaustion. What could she get Sasuke? What would he like, damn if he liked anything…

"Darn it," Sakura cursed. Suddenly she heard a soft jingle as a lady came out of the toy store. The young blonde lady was carrying a ton of shopping bags, but what Sakura's green eyes caught a glimpse of was behind that lady. She quickly shoved herself from the window and ran inside.

Instantly the warmth of the store took over her and caused her nose to burn. The store had a lovely golden glow surrounded it with children and adults alike standing in front of various toys. She quickly turned her head to the item that she saw from outside. She placed a coin into the gumball machine and a bright red ball of gum popped out, and she quickly placed it in her mouth. She ran up to the counter and shoved her way past a two year old who was eagerly waiting in line with a soccer ball in his hands.

"Hey lady!" He shouted. Sakura gave him a deadly glare and turned her attention to the sales associate.

"How much is that!" Sakura nearly screamed from raw excitement. She stood on her tippy toes as she pointed to a glass case on a shelf behind the sales associate. It was at least 3 feet tall and had a gorgeous blue crystal like snow design down the side. It was a glass case perfect for this china doll that Sakura knew Sasuke absolutely cherished. From what she knew, he kept it in the corner of their bedroom, sitting on top of their dresser. It was an old beautiful doll that belonged to his mother, and the mother before her. It had lovely brown hair and stunning calm green eyes. Sasuke even had mentioned that it was his most favorite item, that it was one of the few things he didn't throw away after the massacre.

"Oh that glass case isn't for sale." The sales associate replied sweetly. Sakura blinked.

"You must've not understood me…" Sakura paused and squinted at her name tag. "Meiko. You must be confused."

"I'm not confused." Meiko replied bitterly. "It's not for sale."

"Then why is it in a STORE!" Sakura shouted angrily.

"It's for display only. Adds to the whole holiday spirit."

" A glass doll case?"

"Yes."

Sakura frowned and tapped her fingers against the counter. "Listen, I need to get that doll case for my boyfriend, or my relationship is going to be ruined!"

Meiko raised an eyebrow. "You're boyfriend wants a doll case? Are you sure you shouldn't be concerned about that?"

"No! I mean-damn it! Where's your manager?" Sakura demanded. "I want to see the manager!" Meiko rolled her eyes and stepped away from the counter. Moments later a dark haired male appeared from behind some doors and stood before her.

"Yes?" He asked tiredly.

Sakura straightened her red woolen scarf. "I want that doll case."

"It's not for sale." He muttered as he ran his hands through his hair.

Sakura shook her head though, not giving up. "You don't understand, I need that case. I'll match any price for it."

The man then raised his eyebrows. "The glass is actually miniscule crunched up diamonds. And you're willing to match the price?"

Sakura nodded her head, "I'll give anything!"

The man placed his finger at the bottom of his lip and pretended to ponder her offer. "Okay," he agreed, an odd smile creeping onto his lips. "But I don't want cash."

Sakura's face paled as she consciously wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. Instantly it felt as if the peppermint aroma in the store was becoming just a tad more suffocating than it was at first. But the man seemed to notice her unease and laughed.

"No, not like that. I don't want to have sex with you." He whispered the last part so the children and parents at the surrounding counters wouldn't hear. "I want your hair."

Sakura took a step back, slightly appalled. She fingered her long pink hair nervously. "My hair?"

The man nodded. "I have a daughter that is suffering from leukemia, and she would love to have a wig made out of your hair. Pink is her favorite color." He reasoned. Sakura felt her heart stop, and her throat grow dry. She loved her hair; it was the most admirable thing on her body. And she knew Sasuke loved it as well, which is why since they've been together she refused to cut it. It was now curled gently near her bottom.

But it _was_ for a good cause, and this way she would also get Sasuke his gift. Sakura smiled slowly, "Okay. You got a deal."

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Sasuke barged through the front door of his home and taking two steps at time ran upstairs. He paused once he reached his bedroom and pulled the doll from the dresser, its lovely brown hair getting caught in his fingers. He remembered how much his mother cherished this doll, she almost treated it as if it was the sister he never had. Sasuke felt something rise in his stomach, but then quickly shoved it away. He was doing the right thing. Selling this precious doll, so he could get the dream hair brush for his dream girl was the best thing he's ever done. He was sure…so sure…

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke quickly looked up to see his beloved standing in front of him. Her cheeks were bright pink from the cold and she twirled her endearing pink hair around her pointer finger.

Sasuke nodded at her and placed the doll back on the dresser, but then noticed that Sakura was eyeing him carefully.

"How was your day?" She asked politely untying her scarf and taking off her jacket.

"The usual," he shrugged casually. She nodded and sighed, rubbing her hands by her side nervously.

"Hisoka's spending the night over at Naruto's." She whispered softly. She walked up to him and ran her hands through his soft hair. "We have the whole house to ourselves." Sasuke grabbed a bunch of her hair, and let the soft hair meander in his fist.

"That's a first." He muttered hoarsely. Sakura nodded and pressed her body up close to his. Sasuke felt her soft chest beneath the protective layer of her green sweater. His blood pulsed through his veins. Sakura breath became heavy as she looked up to meet Sasuke's heavy gaze. Beneath her long black eyelashes, she could feel Sasuke searching her eyes, looking for her motive.

"Sasuke-kun…" She droned sexily. "I want yo-"

"Didn't you say you were going to bake?" Sasuke interrupted. Sakura blinked, and then pulled herself away from him slightly offended.

"What?"

Sasuke let go of her pink hair and shook out his fingers in order to get rid of the tingly feeling the empowered them. "Cookies. You said you were going to bake some for Christmas Eve, which is tomorrow."

"So you want me to go bake cookies?" Sakura nearly spat on the verge of anger. "Right now?"

Sasuke glanced at the clock, "It's almost nine." He looked back at her and saw her emerald eyes watering. He suddenly felt guilty for turning her down, again, but…he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk it, not yet anyway. Sasuke stared at the carpet, picking a stain to stare at. "If you don't start now, you might not finish." Without looking up he heard Sakura clear her throat and the soft pitter patter of her small feet running down the stairs. Within in no time he heard the loud clatter of pots and pans down in the kitchen.

His jaw locked as returned his attention back to his mother's doll. He wanted to fix things between them, he really did. So he decided that tomorrow he would trade in his mother's doll for another chance at happiness.

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"_**It was the night before Christmas and all through the house…"**_

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"WAKE-UP!"

Hisoka's eyes opened immediately as Kaori shook him relentlessly. Hisoka yawned and rubbed his eyes as dawns early sunlight crept its way through the curtains.

"Hisoka! We gotta wrap your presents before your Mom comes to pick you up!" Kaori ordered. He pulled the covers off Hisoka and pulled him out of bed. While Hisoka stretches his bones, Kaori pushed up the sleeves of his red and green pajamas and pulled out the Hisoka's presents from under his bed. There were three gifts. A red kunai for his father, a pink stethoscope for his mother, and a silver chained necklace with a heart shaped charm for Mika. "Come on, lazy pants!" The energetic Kaori shouted. He pulled Hisoka towards the tiny Fisherprice table in the middle of the room. "We got to hurry before your Mommy comes! It's Christmas Eve we won't have much time!"

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"_**I'm mister heat miser… I'm Mr. 101…"**_

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Sakura bit her lip harshly and gripped the white sheet that was put over her. She held her breath and could feel water in the corner of her eyes threatened to spill.

"Doll are you ready?" A voice called out impatiently.

Sakura swallowed and placed her purple gloved hands over her face. "No…I mean, sure go." Sakura inhaled sharply when she heard the dreaded noise…

_CLIP._

From the corner of her eyes she saw a large lock of pink hair fall ever so slowly to the ground. "Oh my…" Sakura whispered, holding back a sob. This reminded her of that day in the Chunnin Exams when that rude raven haired girl had forced her to cut off her hair. She wasn't superficial, no way. But…it was her_ hair_. The one thing she actually used to appreciate when she was younger and was so insecure. It made her special…it made her Sakura.

But she swallowed her pride for Sasuke's sake. If he could only see how much she cared, then maybe he would go back to the old Sasuke. The one that used to pamper her, cuddle with her, and…protect her. It felt like recently if Sakura jumped in front of a train, she highly doubted that Sasuke would even blink.

"Done." The nasally voice proclaimed. Sakura opened her eyes and stared into the mirror. She fingered her ear length pink hair. It was even shorter than the days of the Chunnin Exams. Sakura turned her head to the side, and sighed. It wasn't bad, the stylist had styled it in a modern way, but it wasn't her. It wasn't Sakura. "Doll, you had such beautiful hair. Don't know why you would chop it off." She said as she placed Sakura's hair into a little plastic bag just like she had asked when she came in. Sakura turned around to see another lady getting her hair layered nodding in agreement.

Sakura sighed, "It's for a Christmas gift."

"Ohhhhh," The ladies at the hair shop awed in unison.

Sakura stood up and brushed the stray hairs onto the floor, even though all she wanted to do was to grab it and glue it back to her head. She paid her hair stylist and smiled, "Merry Christmas."

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"_**Oh what a Christmas to have the blues…"**_

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"Take it." Sasuke shoved the doll into the old hag's arms. The women greeted the doll with enthusiasm.

"Oh, this is an ancient doll! They haven't made one of these in years." She awed. She raised a single eyebrow cautiously. "And you sure…?"

"Take it." Sasuke hissed. "There's no purpose for this anymore." He crossed his arms and averted his gaze; the snow fell heavily from the sky whipping past his nose. He sniffed.

The old woman stared at him for a moment longer before passing the marvelous brush towards him. "Merry Christmas Uchiha-san."

Sasuke took the brush and turned over in his hand once more before placing it into his pocket, "Aa."

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"_**The fire is slowly dying…but as long as you love me so, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…"**_

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That night, after Sasuke had drank himself silly at the bar with Lee, he slowly entered the house with the brush wrapped in red and green paper. He walked into the living room and saw someone curled up in front of the fireplace wrapped in a heavy fleece brown blanket.

"Sakura?" He called out. The figure suddenly shifted and turned to face him. Immediately he noticed the green eyes that looked somewhat gold with the fire reflecting off of it…but then… "Fuck." He cursed, his mouth hung agape. Sakura pouted and threw the blanket over her head and cowered against the floor.

"I knew you'd hate it." She whimpered.

Sasuke walked over to her quickly and knelt down beside her, placing the gift on the ground. "Sakura, wait let me see."

"No!"

"Sakura,"

"Sasuke-kun, no! You hate it!" She argued.

"I didn't say that."

Sakura peered from under the blanked only a green eye visible. "Oh sure, 'fuck' is such a compliment." She said sarcastically, then covered her head once again. Sasuke groaned.

"Stop being childish, and let me see." He pulled the blanket off of her and groaned again.

"See!" Sakura sat up and stood up on her knees so she was eye level with Sasuke. She fingered her short hair. "You don't like it!"

Sasuke scratched the back of his head. "It's not that." And it was true, if anything this hair cut made Sakura look…sexy. She was sexy before, but her long pink hair made her also look cute, young. But this hair style gave her a more edgy look; it defined her perfect eyes and endearing bone structure. "Just…why did you cut your hair?" Sakura smiled and then reached behind her and pulled out a gift.

Sasuke touched the rectangular box. It was quite big. "Sakura, what is it?" Sakura laughed her wind chiming laugh.

"You got to open it."

Sasuke stared at her and then shoved his gift toward her. "Open yours, though you might not like it." Sakura giggled with excitement. "I doubt it; I'd love anything you get me." She said while tearing the gift open like a six year old child. She paused when she reached the cardboard gift, and glanced up at Sasuke who was staring at her. "I'll love it, jeez, stop staring at me like that!" She giggled once more and lifted the lid. She dropped the lid on the floor like it was burning hot when she saw what was inside. Her eyes wide and opened looked back at Sasuke who was smirking with somewhat of a half shrug.

"It _was_ a good gift." He commented. Sakura nodded in agreement as she held up the brush that glistened into the fire. It was perfect and fit into her hand perfectly. Sakura mimicked the motion with her hand what she would have done if she had long hair. She closed her eyes and could almost feel the delicate bristles combing though her soft hair.

"Sasuke-kun it's perfect." She whispered when she reopened her eyes.

Sasuke snorted. "Before you randomly chopped off your hair."

Sakura smiled sadly at him, "I cut my hair to get you your gift." Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her.

"Wh-"

Sakura shook her head. "You got to open it!" She clapped her hands giddily. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but still kept the smirk on his face. He carefully pulled the red ribbon off of it, and ripped through the wrapping paper. His fingers froze when the wrapping paper fell to the floor and the glass box stood naked in front of him.

Sakura took his silence as he didn't quite know what it was. "It's a diamond doll box."

"…"

"For your mother's doll?" Sakura said slowly. "I thought since it's your family's anniversary it would be the perfect gift."

Sasuke looked up at her, surprised. He had completely forgotten that this day fifteen years ago Itachi had wiped out his entire family. He had been so busy with Sakura's gift that his mind had completely suppressed that horrible memory. Sasuke sighed, "Sakura…I sold it."

"You sold your doll?" Sakura's mouth dropped. "What why would you do that?" She cried out.

Sasuke smirk grew. "To get you that brush."

Sakura leaned back and her face crest fallen. "Well I traded in my hair to get you that stupid doll box." A tear fell from her eyes and Sasuke looked at her alarmed.

"Sakura, it's not that big a deal." He reassured.

"No!" Sakura threw her hands down in defeat. "Now we're ruined!"

Sasuke chuckled and cuddled up against her. "How do you figure that out?"

Sakura whimpered. "We're falling apart, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke hugged her tighter.

"No, we're not."

"Yes we are!"

"_No_," Sasuke said a bit harshly, refusing to believe it. "We are not."

"Well it sure feels like it." Sakura muttered. Sasuke lifted her chin and kissed her lip lightly. "Sasuke-kun, kissing me doesn't fix the problem." She whispered softly. Sasuke smirked against her lips.

"It's Christmas Eve Sakura, so shut up." Sasuke kissed her again and Sakura wrapped her small hands around his burly neck. Sakura abruptly pushed her away from him and then smiled.

"I forgot to show you. Look what Hisoka did!" Sakura crawled over to the tree and pulled out two gifts. "He saved up his money and bought us these gifts."

"Did he tell you that?" Sasuke asked jokingly. Sakura attempted to punch his arm lightly with a playful smile on her face. But Sasuke caught her arm and tugged her closer to him. Sakura placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his face towards his. She pressed her lips against his.

"Merry Christmas Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke placed his hand at her back and caressed it softly.

"Merry Christmas."

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"_**We wish you a Merry Christmas,"**_

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**Aww! I wanted to get this out before Christmas…but I didn't…so yeah. Lol it's really random but still flows in with the story so Happy Holidays!**

**Reviews would make my Christmas so much better **

**XOOREOXO!**

**(ignore grammar mistakes :) ) **


	25. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 23

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"Iruka-sensei gives way too much homework!" Kaori complained out loud, pounding his fist into his palm angrily. "How can I study and still be able to get as strong as my father?" Hisoka nodded in agreement as he shifted the heavy books in his arm awkwardly. They were walking through the hallways of the Academy during break. It was a lovely spring day and Hisoka sniffled a bit due to his allergies.

"Kaori-kun!" A small squeaky voice called out from the distance. Kaori looked up and saw his little sister sprinting towards them. Her long blue tinted black hair flew behind her as her sharp blue eyes sparkled with happiness.

Kaori grunted, "Miki, I've told you not to say 'hi' to me when you see me in school!" He hissed, shoving past her. Miki's face dropped and looked at the floor ashamedly.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered under her breath, her bottom lip trembling. Hisoka felt a sudden pang in his stomach, and instantly felt bad for Miki. Though there was only a five year difference between Kaori and Miki, Kaori felt it necessary to enlarge that age gap by far whenever they crossed paths at school. Hisoka could understand where he was coming from though, Kaori _was_ nine years old! What nine year old wants to be caught hanging out with their four year old little sister? Kaori did have a reputation to keep up with; he was one of the most popular kids at school.

Hisoka reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of candy that his mother usually packs for his lunch. He waved the candy in front of Miki's face. Once she took notice of it, her smile grew ten-fold, revealing her two missing front teeth.

"Oh! Thanks Hisoka-kun!" she squealed. She gave him a quick hug and then ran off with some girls that happened to just have passed. Hisoka smiled after her, and jogged to catch up with Kaori. Once he did though, Kaori was scowling. Hisoka's eyebrow rose.

"You shouldn't spoil her like that." His light blue eyes narrowed. "She'll turn into a little brat." Hisoka shook his head in defiance.

"I'm just saying." Kaori suddenly turned his head towards him and eyed him suspiciously. "I've never asked you this before, but why don't you talk?"

Hisoka paled and looked away from him, shrugging his shoulders. Kaori stared at him a moment longer and then turned his head angrily. "It's kind of annoying."

Hisoka shrugged again, keeping his eyes glued on the hallway before him. Dozens of kids passed them in a hurry with snacks in their hands, and more than half of them greeted Kaori with smiles, most of them girls though.

"You're my best friend Hisoka," Kaori started, "But if you keep acting like this then you're not cool. Don't you want to be cool like me?"

Hisoka made a scoffing sound and then stopped walking. Kaori took an extra step and turned back to look at him in surprise. "What is it?"

But then the bell rang signaling the end of break, and Hisoka turned his heel and headed towards class without saying anything.

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"_**We are who we are…"**_

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Hisoka threw some books into his bag at the end of the day, while Kaori waited impatiently besides him.

"You're so slow." He whined. Hisoka fought the urge to roll his eyes, and flung the bag over his shoulder, nodding his head towards the door. Kaori sighed and headed towards the door when suddenly it opened and two boys stood in their way.

"Yo, you that Uzumaki?" The tall, bulky boy asked.

Kaori paused and glanced at Hisoka, but then returned his gaze at the boy. "Yeah."

"You know Arini?"

Kaori nodded. She was about two years older than him, and often said hi to him in the mornings. She was very pretty with lovely jet red hair that bounced when she walked.

The boy smirked. "Interesting. She's my girlfriend." The boy cracked his knuckles. Hisoka gulped and sneaked a look at Kaori who was staring back at the older boy without fear, but Hisoka knew that his best friend was scared shitless.

There was another boy that didn't speak much yet was still as big as the other guy and scarier than his companion. He pointed his thumb towards him.

"Leave." He ordered his voice unusually deep for a twelve year old. Kaori then looked fearful because he knew that if anything were to happen, Hisoka would at least have his back, or be a reliable witness. Then the older boy came before him in what seemed instantaneously and grabbed his navy shirt. Hisoka struggled against his grasp. "What you can't speak Uchiha?"

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Kaori ordered tossing his bag at the boy's head.

The boy turned his head and glared at him, but tightened his hold on Hisoka, "Stupid brat. Wonder why Arimi has taken any sort of interest towards you?" With Hisoka still in his grasp he walked over to the window and opened it, the soft cherry blossom scent filling the empty classroom. "Ginta! Hold that blonde rodent down, we'll teach him a lesson to not mess with our girls!" He then tossed Hisoka out the window and Hisoka fell to the dirt ground face first. He pushed himself up, his nose and mouth leaking with blood. The boy looked at him and spat on the ground near him and then closed the window tight.

Hisoka sat there for a moment longer, slightly disbelieving what just happened. He looked around outside to see if anyone had just noticed the disturbing scene, but of course the entire school yard was completely empty. He stood up and wiped his nose with his sleeve, knowing there was no way he could help Kaori in this condition (even though Kaori was turning out to be the biggest asshole in the world), and the first person that came to his mind that could actually help him rang clearly in his mind.

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"_**Because I would catch a grenade for you…"**_

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Sasuke chucked his weapons onto the floor near the door as he trudged his way into the kitchen. He had just returned from another mission, or in other words, an Itachi hunt. He came back empty handed of course, but tried not to keep his mind on it too much. The trail he had had worn off and he didn't want his disappointment to creep through his 'father' shield so that Sakura would actually notice that something was up. He was opening the fridge and poured himself some ice cold water when he heard the door slide open.

He glanced at the clock. It was almost four and Hisoka should have been home already.

"Father!"

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed when the unrecognizable voice reached his ears. He slowly placed the glass on the counter and walked out into the halls. And to his greatest surprise, Hisoka stood there in dirty, bloody clothes and panting hysterically.

"Father, you have to help Kaori!"

Sasuke froze.

Wait…Was he…talking? Sasuke bit his tongue just to make sure he wasn't fabricating some kind of awkward dream. At this exact moment he wouldn't be surprised if Itachi walked in with some kind of blue bikini.

"Father! Come on!" he pleaded, snapping Sasuke out his trance, and grabbing Sasuke's hand. "It might be too late by the time we get there!" Hisoka's eyes watered as he tugged and pulled harder. His tiny arms shook with fear when he realized that Sasuke wasn't budging. Sasuke squirmed his hand out of Hisoka's grasp and knelt down very slowly to meet his eye level, wiping the tears that had freshly fallen.

"What-" Sasuke stumbled over the right words. "…What are you talking about?" What he really wanted to ask was _"How the hell are you talking?" _

Hisoka sniffed. "Kaori's being attacked by some big bullies!"

Sasuke sighed and reached into his pocket for his handkerchief to clean the tears and dried blood from his face. "Calm down. Uchiha's don't cry."

Hisoka puffed his cheek in attempt to repress his sobs which made him sound like he was chocking and gagging at the same time. He limply nodded his head. "O-okay, F-fa-father," he used his fist to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Sasuke felt a familiar pang in his stomach when he heard Hisoka repeat the forbidden words of 'father' but shoved it down. They've wasted too much time already, and who knows what kind of trouble Kaori could be in.

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"_**Six feet under scream, but no one hears a thing…"**_

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"Fuck you!"

Kaori gritted his teeth as another hard kick came flying his way and aimed perfectly at his face. He heard a boisterous cracking noise that really could only have come from his nose. He grunted in pain, as he slid down the wall and cradled his face in his palms.

"Stupid Uzumaki brat! Thinking you're all powerful cause your Dad's the ninetails fox and your Mom's a dirty Hyuuga!" One of the boys literally spat the words at Kaori, and Kaori cringed when the warm wet saliva hit his arm. He tried to fight back, he really did, but there's only so much a naïve nine year old can do against two massive twelve year olds.

Kaori tasted a bitter liquid on his tongue, and then realized that he, Kaori, was _crying_. That's one thing he doesn't do, cry. He was strong, independent child. And to become the eighth Hokage, following right after his father, he had to become as brave as him. Everyone always tells him what an amazingly brave child Naruto was; saving people from bridges, helping them find their destinies and defeating demons. And all he wanted to do was to be just like that, just like his father. So one day he could look up amongst the Hokage wall and see his face carved next to his father and his grandfather's.

"Look Ginta," Kaori heard someone speak, "the little brat's crying."

Ginta chuckled, "Think we hit him too hard?" Ginta asked while elbowing Kaori in the stomach and grabbing his golden locks. "Do you think he's learned his fucking lesson?"

The other boy smirked, "I don't think so."

Ginta pulled down on Kaori's head so his head jerked up involuntarily. "I want you to remember the face that fucking pulverized you." He pressed his fingers harder against his baby smooth skin, piercing it with his uncut nails.

"That's a lot of talk from a scum even lower than Genin."

All three boys looked up in unison and towards the window that was now opened. Leaning against the window pane was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself. And he brought back that son of his.

"S-Sasuke-sama?" Ginta instantly let go of Kaori's hair and brushed his hands against his shorts as if he was trying to wipe away the evil deeds.

Sasuke didn't say anything but used his eyes to signal what he wanted. His eyes moved from the boys to the door, and then with a slight nod of his head the boys gathered their bags and scampered out the door. Once the door slammed shut, Hisoka ran over to Kaori and helped him stand up by wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Are you okay?" Hisoka asked carefully. Kaori nodded limply and then felt another pair of cool arms hoist him over their shoulders.

"You should rest. Sakura will take a look at any injuries." Sasuke ordered, positioning Kaori on his back in a comfortable position.

Hisoka agreed, "Yes, my mother's going to fix you up real quick!" Kaori nodded again and then it hit him.

"Are you talking!" He gasped out loud. Hisoka ignored him and picked up his scattered books on the floor. After some moments the room became significantly darker as the sun set over the horizon. Sasuke signaled with finger for Hisoka to follow him and he quickly obeyed. Sasuke leaped through the window, while Hisoka carefully climbed out of it. Sasuke, careful with where he stepped (he didn't want Kaori to be in any more pain than he had to be in), slowly jogged through the streets, heading towards the hospital. "Hisoka…" Kaori started. He turned his head and looked at the poor Hisoka that was literally sprinting to catch up with Sasuke and him.

"…?"

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk." Kaori mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "And, thank you for getting your dad and everything." Sasuke slowed his jog just a bit more so that Hisoka wouldn't strain himself trying to keep up, and slightly curious to what kind of conflict Kaori could have had with Hisoka in order for that little boastful brat to say 'sorry'. He heard Hisoka take a deep breath and exhale carefully into the air.

"Friendship needs no words."

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"_**What are you waiting for…?"**_

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"_But this is me swallowing my pride,__  
__Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night__  
__And I'd go back to December__  
__It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you-"_

"Hey."

Miki stopped singing and spinning in her room. Her light pink dress twirled to a slight stop once she stopped. Her shimmering black hair landed softly against her shoulders and as she looked up at the door in shock.

"Hisoka-kun?" She smiled happily. She glanced at the clock and that red '9:09' in giant red numbers. "Why are you here? Kaori-kun is still at the hospital."

Hisoka nodded respectively, "I know, but my mother said I should drop his homework." He handed her the book and Miki took it and placed it on her bedside table. She spun around once more and then fingered a tiny silver necklace around her neck.

"You're a hero! You saved my brother!" Miki exclaimed randomly. Her eyes lit with excitement and did a little jump. Hisoka bit his bottom lip and looked at the ground.

"No I didn't. My father did."

Miki's eyebrow raised, "So? If you didn't call him those boys could have killed him!"

"No," Hisoka shook his head, "They couldn't have. They wouldn't."

Miki shrugged. "I still think you're a hero."

"Hero's have to be strong, I'm not strong."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No."

"Ye-"

"Miki!" Hisoka snapped. Miki slightly jumped, quite surprised that his voice even got that loud. "Stop it. I wanted to bring his books, and that's it." Hisoka shook his raven locks and glared down at the floor. "Don't say I'm a hero, because I'm not."

Miki's eyes watered up, but nodded her head limply and turned the necklace that she was playing with around in her fingers. She climbed onto her bed and Hisoka walked over to her bedside and switched her bed lamp off. Hisoka turned to walk out of the room when he heard a tiny voice call out his name from within the darkness.

"Yes Miki?" he asked tiredly, turning his head slightly before he closed the door.

Miki pushed herself up and propped herself against her pillows, still fingering her necklace. "I like your voice."

Hisoka stood there for a moment longer and then relaxed his onyx eyes. A soft smile crept across his face and he shook his raven locks out of his eyes. "You have a nice voice too. You should keep singing." Even though she's only four, she had signs for an amazing talent. Miki's smile soon matched his and even grew beyond that, glistening in the night.

Hisoka sighed again and closed the door, "Good night."

"'Night Hisoka-kun!"

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**AHHH! THIS IS SOO LATE. I KNOW. I KNOW. **

**MY BAD. MY BAD. **

**Umm…this is kinda a sucky chapter, I'm aware…but I had to get it out if my story is going to MOVE ON! Ughh. After this chapter….there's one more fluffy chapter (kinda…there's some simple drama) and then the CONFLICT arises again. It's just gonna be like BAM! Where'd that come from! So exciteddd!**

**Reviews would make me warmer…'cause it's so freaking cold!**

**xooreoxo **


	26. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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**(IMPORTANT: DUDE. I forgot Kaori's sister's name. in Chapter 22 I called her MIKA…but in Chapter 23 I called her MIKI….I'm such a ditz… I'm sticking to Miki guys…ugh. )**

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Chapter 24

"This is bull." Sasuke groaned closing his suitcase. Sakura quickly gave him a dirty look as she buckled her hiking boots. She stood up and walked around in the room for a bit, testing their comfort levels.

"Stop being such a sour puss about it." Sakura ordered, placing her hair into a high ponytail. "It's going to be fun! We haven't gone on a family trip in forever."

"We've never gone on a family trip."

Sakura raised her eyebrow to look at him, "Exactly." She grabbed her watch and fastened it around her wrist and smiled at herself in the reflection. She must admit, she looked very outdoorsy. She had come up with the amazing idea to go camping with her amazing family. It was going to be a gorgeous weekend and she's always loved the idea of being outside with just her family by her side.

"You're annoying." Sasuke muttered. "I don't understand why we're bringing Naruto and his bratty family."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura scolded.

Sasuke shrugged. "It's true. Last time I checked Naruto wasn't related to us."

Sakura smiled casually as she picked up her duffel bag and kicked him lightly at his rear end. "Naruto's like our brother, and I haven't had a good girl time with Hinata in forever!" Sasuke shook his head and opened his mouth as if he were going to say something again but then their bedroom door opened.

"Mom?" Hisoka called out. Sakura's grin grew tenfold as she heard Hisoka speak. It was insane. Hisoka has been speaking for about four years now, but every time she heard his voice, it literally sent shivers down her spine. He sounded almost identical to Sasuke when he was twelve. "Kaori and his family are here."

Sakura turned her head towards Sasuke who looked as aggravated as a starving bear. "You ready Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. Sasuke scoffed and grabbed the duffel bag from her.

"Let's get this over with."

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"_**With you right here I'm a Rocketeer…"**_

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"This is so stupid." Kaori hissed under his breath, adjusting his backpack. "I had a hot date this weekend." Hisoka remained quiet and kept his gaze ahead of him, watching their parents chat about the good ol' days. Okay, all their parents except his father was participating in their small talk. "And she was smoking! Like she had two massive-"

"Kaori-kun!" Miki interrupted, slapping his arm hard. "You're such a perv." She rolled her perfect blue eyes that were completely identical to Kaori's. She strolled besides them as she held a portable musical device in her hand that was attached to an earpiece. Hisoka had remembered Kaori call it an 'mp3' or something similar to that. Often Miki would be listening to that thing non-stop. She even dropped out of the Academy and joined an uninteresting ordinary school. For some reason that Kaori could not fathom, she wanted to become a singer.

"You shouldn't be listening to my manly conversation." Kaori puffed out his chest in defiance. Miki raised her eyebrow at him, and then started laughing.

"You can't be serious." She giggled as she pulled the earphone out of her ear and eyed Hisoka suspiciously. "And what do you think?" She asked.

Hisoka glanced down at his best friend's nine year old sister. "I'm not getting involved."

Miki smiled, "Always playing neutral." She played with the silver necklace around her neck as she said so, a slight pink blush appearing on her cheeks. This obviously went completely unnoticed by Hisoka, who was often oblivious to Miki's flirting. She's been secretly in love with him for many years now, and at this rate, by the time Hisoka ever noticed then she was pretty much obsessed with him she could safely assume that Kaori was Hokage.

Kaori cleared his throat and eyed Miki suspiciously. He wasn't as blind as his best friend.

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"_**Tell the Devil I said hi when you get back from where you're from…"**_

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"And then Sasuke-teme was like 'Naruto! How much stronger have you gotten?' and then I was like 'Stronger than you Teme!' and then he got all emotional and starting foaming at the mouth and freaking out like crazed man. It was HILARIOUS!" Naruto laughed which quickly followed with a chorus of laughter. Sasuke rolled his eyes; that was a complete exaggeration of what actually happened. The group had reached their campsite in what Sasuke thought was just a really big space in the middle of the forest. They had all bundled around the fire each in their respective pairs. Hinata had her head placed against the crook of Naruto's neck. Sasuke, with his hand tangled in Sakura's voluptuous hair, used his other free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Sakura continued to giggle and squeezed his thigh.

"Sasuke-kun was always pretty hilarious."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. "I think striving to be your best is anything but hilarious."

Naruto waved his hand nonchalantly, "Teme, there's a difference between ambitious and insanity. You were insane." Sasuke narrowed his eyes in response, which earned another round of laughter from the group.

"I-I don't think it's fair to be teasing S-Sasuke-kun like that." Hinata smiled at him apologetically, and Sasuke gave her a quick nod. He's always thought she was too good for Naruto. "W-W-we got some good news though. Miki has learned how to ac-activate her Byakugan."

Miki stopped eating her canned tuna in mid chew and glared at her mother. She really hated it when her parents brought up stuff like that. She wasn't the one that wanted to be involved in all this pizzazz. Kaori was. "It's no big deal."

"It's a huge deal! Kaori couldn't activate his till he was eleven!" Naruto exclaimed. "Isn't that right Kaori?" Kaori looked up from his food, and scowled.

"That's right." Kaori said, his voice just a pitch off. "What about Hisoka?"

Hisoka straightened up at the sound of his name.

"What about him?" Sakura asked a bit defensively.

"How come he hasn't activated his Sharigan yet? Iruka-sensei's always going on about how Sasuke was a child prodigy. And Hisoka's the spitting image of him; I just thought that Hisoka would have activated it by now." Kaori explained with a shrug of his shoulders. Hisoka tensed next to him, while Miki eyed him angrily. Kaori always had a way of being such an ass.

"Kaori!" Naruto scolded. "Why would you ask something so personal?" Hinata stared at him disapprovingly as well, but Kaori didn't even seem bothered by it.

"It was just a question."

"A question you could have asked me directly." Hisoka whispered under his breath. He looked up from his canned beef and stared at Kaori in his eyes. Kaori looked away quickly, a quick frown apparent in his face.

"It's because he hasn't been challenged." Sasuke blurted. Everyone looked up at him as if asking him silently to continue. Sasuke cleared his throat, but it was Naruto who spoke.

"Oh yeah! That's right! Teme couldn't use his Sharigan until he thought his life was in danger when we had our first real dangerous mission." Naruto grinned at Hisoka in encouragement. "I may not be a Uchiha, but I'm pretty sure it'll kick in when your body feels like it's necessary for survival." A small smile formed on Hisoka's lips as he nodded appreciatively.

Naruto smiled in response and turned to face Sakura who mouthed a discrete 'thank you' with her lips.

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"_**And they're gone and you wish you could give them everything…."**_

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"When are you going to tell him?"

Sakura felt her breath get hitched in her throat. The two of them had gotten their own tent completely separate from the rest of the group and neither of them had been able to sleep. Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her pink sleeping bag at the sound of Sasuke's question.

"I don't know." Sakura whispered.

"You have to tell him." Sasuke replied staring at the top of the tent. His gazed hardened. "He can't keep believing he's something that he's not. It's only going to hinder him mentally."

"No it won't." Sakura replied childishly. "What you don't know can't hurt you."

"Well in this case it will."

"Sasuke-kun! No!" Sakura shouted. She sat up and glowered at him harshly. "He doesn't have to know!"

"Don't be a fucking idiot Sakura. " Sasuke sat up as well and crossed his arms. "I'm not his father. He's not my son. Tsunade herself checked him out, he doesn't have the capability to obtain the Sharigan, and you know that!" Sasuke's voice rose but then quickly reminded himself that he wasn't alone in this forest. "Stop being so damn delusional." He hissed at her.

Sakura bit her bottom lip, and felt her eyes watering up. She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a long slow breath. "I just want us to be a happy family. Is that too much to ask?" She pleaded with him. Sasuke shook his head, clearly aggravated. He turned his head away from her and pulled his sleeping bag up to cover his ears.

"Either you tell him by the time he turns fifteen, or I will."

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"_**Pretty pretty please don't you ever feel less than perfect..."**_

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Hisoka twisted in the air and threw the five kunais in its corresponding targets. Hisoka did a final twist in the air and then fell gracefully to the ground. When he checked the targets, each individual kunai had hit each target perfectly. Yet for some reason, it wasn't good enough. Hisoka kicked a nearby stubble and then sat on it. He ran his hands through his hair tiredly, so confused. If he was as good as everyone says, why couldn't he activate his Sharigan? It didn't make sense, he was at the top of his class, he graduates to Genin next week, he was fucking perfect.

Hisoka felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and from the almond scented fragrance he immediately knew who it was.

"If you're tired you should go to sleep." Miki advised. After Hisoka didn't respond, it was pretty evident that he wasn't going to listen to her. So she sighed heavily and shoved him so that he scooted a bit and they could share the stump. "You're so difficult."

"Why are you up?" He asked her randomly, but not removing his face from his palm.

"I followed you."

Hisoka looked up at her then, and gave her a weird look. Miki backed away and placed her hand up in front of her defensively. "Not like a creep! You made so much noise getting up that I couldn't go back to sleep." She lied. She quickly looked at the ground and kicked a pile of fallen leaves in front of her.

"I came to train."

"At three in the morning?"

"It's two."

Miki raised her eyebrow, but laughed. "Okay at two in the morning?"

"…"

"This doesn't have anything to do with the conversation earlier, does it?"

Hisoka scoffed, "Nothing gets past you." He then looked up at her somewhat shocked expression at the bitterness of his tone. "Sorry. I don't know what's wrong- forget it."

Miki sighed and climbed off the tree stump and onto the grass. She lay flat on her back and patted the ground next to her. "Come lie down."

"No."

"Come on!"

"No. It's stupid."

"You're stupid. Just for a quick second."

Hisoka made some restrained inhumane noise in the back of his throat, but did as he was told. He lay in the dewy grass next to her and placed one arm on his stomach.

"Now look at the sky, and just let go of what's bothering you."

Hisoka frowned, "I doubt that'll do anything."

"Uncle Neji taught me and Kaori this." Miki argued. "He says it helps cleanse our inner chakras." Hisoka turned his head towards her and smirked. Miki saw him look at her through her peripheral vision and scowled. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy, and just try." Hisoka's smirk grew, but then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath inwards, and then exhaled. He did this a few more times, and then his face scrunched up. Miki watched this transformation in his expression in awe. He really was easy on the eyes. Hisoka suddenly opened his onyx eyes, and this time the expression in them was rigid and unidentifiable.

"Sometimes I feel as if I don't belong." Hisoka whispered. Miki remained silent, not quite sure what he wanted her to say to that. "I feel like there's something within me that wants to escape, but I keep it locked inside of me."

"Why?" Miki said so softly that her voice was almost drowned out by the night breeze.

"Because it's evil." Hisoka said without a hint of emotion. He turned to look at her and then smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, am I scaring you? Sometimes I forget you're just a kid."

Miki rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm not scared. And I'm_ not_ that much younger than you anyway, I _am _almost ten." She replied coolly, standing up. When she stood though, she made an extra effort to hide her trembling hands.

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"…_**when birthday passed, and I didn't call…."**_

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A/N.**

**Omg…thank goodness I'm done with the dry season/filler/no DRAMA chapters! This is the last one like this and then NEXT CHAPTER…OMFG. It's gonna be like…whooaaaa. Where did that come from? With some SPECIAL appearances. *wipes forehead* (plus I might upload that chapter early since I'm like snowed in… freaking snow storms.)**

**Reviews make my world go round!**

**xooreoxo**


	27. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 25

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"_**After**__**a Hurricane comes a Rainbow…"**_

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"Sasuke-kun did you pick up the flowers from the shop?" Sakura asked as she whisked past him in the kitchen. She grabbed an apple from the tray and threw it as Hisoka as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning." He greeted in a rush. He placed the apple in his mouth and rushed towards the main door, pausing only to place his navy blue sandals on.

"Don't forget about Miki's surprise party tonight!" Sakura called out. "Don't stay out too late!" Hisoka mumbled something back, but to reinforce his incoherent response, he nodded his head. He slid open the door, and closed it loudly. Sakura turned back to Sasuke who was calmly leaning against their brand new marble counter, sipping a cup of coffee. "Sasuke-kun, the flowers?"

"I heard you the first time."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "If you heard me, then why didn't you respond?"

"I was drinking my coffee." Sasuke bluntly pointed to his mug. "Not trying to burn my tongue."

Sakura sighed, and ran her hands through her hair, clearly aggravated with him though it was only eight in the morning. "Whatever Sasuke-kun. As long as you got the flowers."

Sasuke arrogantly smirked. "Oh, I didn't get it." He shrugged, "I just heard what you said."

"Are you trying to be a bastard? Because it's getting old!" Sakura snapped. She grabbed her medical briefcase from the floor and snapped the buckle shut loudly. "I don't have time for this. If you don't want to get the flowers then I can get them after work."

"I didn't say I was going to get them, just that I_ haven't_ gotten them." Sasuke grunted. He grabbed the door keys from the counter and took his jacket from the closet.

"No it's okay. If it's too much of a hassle-"

"I said I'll get it." Sasuke said with a bit more harshness than intended. He walked over to her and pecked her on her forehead before he headed out the front door. Sakura stood there, her face completely void of any emotion. She placed her finger on her forehead and used her finger to trace the faint lip mark on her forehead. Sasuke had just kissed her with the same amount of passion that you'd kiss your freaking grandmother.

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"When your heart's under attack, gonna give everything I have…"

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Hisoka walked home from school under the bright Konoha sun. Kaori had to stay after school to clean up some chalkboards since he was caught hooking up with a girl in the Janitor's supply closet. Hisoka sighed and kicked some dirt as he walked, it wasn't like him and Kaori were that close anymore anyways. There was this sense that there was a hidden rivalry between them, for a reason Hisoka couldn't even fathom. He didn't _want_ to compete with Kaori, he never wanted to. But it felt as if Kaori wanted to compete with _him._

Hisoka shook his raven locks, and gritted his teeth. He didn't want to think too much about that, it all felt suddenly depressing. He turned into the training grounds and placed his weapons on the ground. He quickly glanced at his watch, and it was a quarter past five. He knew that Miki's surprise birthday party was around seven, but he wanted to make sure that he got some training in. He was clearly aware that when his father was his age, he had surpassed him in skills by a milestone, and he knew he wasn't supposed to be bothered by it. But he _was_ fucking annoyed. He wanted to be the stronger, he was the only descendent of the Uchiha bloodline, and had an image to keep up to.

Suddenly he sensed an unfamiliar chakra behind him, and a slight tremor ran up his spine. Hisoka quickly turned around, his breath caught in his throat.

"Who's there?" He called out. He quickly did a scan of the training grounds, and found that it was completely empty. It was Friday evening; everyone else had better things to do than train. "Hello?" He ran his hands down the back of his head, and scratched his neck nervously.

"Wow, they did a good job."

Hisoka snapped his head in the direction of the voice and quickly grabbed a kunai in his hands. The voice that had just spoken did not sound friendly, but somehow had an evil vibe. "Show yourself." Hisoka demanded, positioning the kunai right in front of him.

The mysterious voice did as it was told, and stepped out from the shadows. Hisoka squinted his eyes. The man had covered all but his head in a murky black cloak that refused to reveal any body parts. His face was replaced with an orange like mask with a single hole to reveal one lonely eye, and his jet black spiky hair stood up from behind.

"Hello, Hisoka." He greeted with a slight wave of his hand. His one visible eye glinted with something mysterious.

Hisoka's body went rigid at the sound of his name. "H-how do you know- what do you want?"

"I want nothing from you; I would just merely like to speak to you."

Hisoka scoffed, "I have no intention of wanting to speak to you." He stood up straighter and placed his kunai in his pouch. "Now if you want to stay and chat to yourself, fine by me. I'm leaving." He grabbed his weapons and headed back the way he came, but then was suddenly repelled back by an invisible force. Hisoka grunted as he hit the floor hard, but then stood up again and touched the air. He was surprised to meet that his hands met something hard but invisible. "Wha-" He started and frantically patted the air and quickly he realized that the entire training grounds was covered by an undetectable barrier. He was trapped.

He quickly turned back around and saw the man sitting on a stone, watching him intently. Hisoka felt his heart speeding up. "You're not as talented as noticing genjustsu like your mother I presume."

"Shut up." He spat, slightly annoyed that he couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.

The man laughed, "Aren't you a witty little brat? Just like your goddamn father."

"You know nothing about my dad!" He growled, his fist tightening by his side. The man's one eye narrowed suspiciously.

"On the contrary," He stood up and walked towards him. He stood a mere five feet away from him and dramatically raised his hands in the air. "You know nothing about _your _father."

"What are you trying to say!" He hissed.

The man dropped his hands and stared at him dead on. "I know the truth about Sasuke Uchiha, the truth that everyone has hid from you till this day."

"Bull."

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"No one's hiding anything from me! Konoha is a peaceful place filled with safety, joy, hap-" But he never got to finish his sentence because the man had started laughing violently. The man actually grasped his stomach and leaned against a tree to keep himself from doubling over. He looked up at him, humor in his eyes.

"Don't forget secrets."

"No! Your wrong-"

"This place is fucking filled with secrets and traitors!" He hissed. He stood back to catch his breath, and adjusted his mask. "Where is your family?"

Hisoka hesitated. "My-My Mom's at work, and my father is-"

"Not them. Where are you grandparents?"

"Dead. They died of old age and-"

"Where are _Sasuke's _parents?" He spat. Hisoka narrowed his eyes. He knew where they were. They were dead. They died of some incurable flu, his father had told him. He had even taken him to see their resting place. And unfortunately for his dad his parents were all he had. He was the only child, with no cousins, nothing.

"I don't know what you're getting at." Hisoka admitted, still hovered his hands over his kunai pouch. "They're dead!"

"From what?"

"They were sick."

The man scoffed. "Is that what they told you?"

"Yes! Because that's what happened!" Hisoka yelled. He quickly regretted it though. If there was one thing he learned from the academy it was to never show emotion in the face of your enemy. And he was pretty damn sure this man fell under that category.

The man went back and sat by the same damn stone. He rested his arm casually on his knee. "Where are your aunts, uncles…from Sasuke's side?"

"He doesn't have any."

"Why?"

"Because he just doesn't."

The man eyes narrowed. "What your last name?"

"…"

"Aa, so now you can't speak?"

"Uchiha."

"Pardon?" The man said sarcastically. Hisoka was sure he understood what he said, but he repeated it anyways.

"Uchiha!" He snarled. "Hisoka Uchiha!"

The man was quiet for some time. And then took of his mask, but he kept his face downwards. "Show me your Sharingan then."

"I don-"

"What?" He now yelled. Hisoka could literally feel the anger emitting from this man, a strong breeze blew past them, causing Hisoka's hair to blow across his face, disrupting his view.

"I don't have it yet!" He shouted.

"Why?"

"Wha-"

"Why, don't you haven't you acquired it?"

"B-B-Because!" Hisoka stuttered, he glanced at his palms, an emotion ripped through his body, an emotion he couldn't identify, "Because I'm not ready!"

Silence fell upon them, cutting through time like a knife. Neither of them said anything, both trapped in their own thoughts. Then the man stood up and walked over to the boy. He used his hand to grab his hair and force him to look at him in the eye. "That's not the reason." He then swiftly used his legs to knock him on the ground, but still kept his grip on his hair.

Tears had fallen down Hisoka's face. He thought he was going to die. This man was going to kill him for some inexplicable reason, and he was going to die.

But then – up close – Hisoka could see his eyes. Hisoka gasped. "H-how?"

The man had the Sharingan. Hisoka scanned his face. Red eyes. Navy hair. He looked like he could be related to them…he looked like a Uchiha.

The man grinned. "Oh, where have my manners been?" He harshly released Hisoka's hair, and tossed him gently to the side. "I am Madara Uchiha."

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"_**And I'm hearing what you say, but I just can't make a sound…"**_

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"Hey Sakura!"

Sakura looked up from her patient's clipboard, and saw a cheerful Kaori casually strolling up to her. He had both hands in his pockets and a slightly cocky, yet happy grin on his face. "Hey, how are you today Kaori-kun?"

"Good. I was just getting a birthday gift for Miki, and I wanted to know if Hisoka was here. He said he wanted to come with me."

Sakura raised her eyebrow. "No he's not here." She placed the clipboard on the desk, and picked up a pen nearby to start filling it out the forms. "Have you checked everywhere else?" Sakura asked casually.

"Kind of. I went to your house and the training grounds, but he's not there."

"Maybe he's with Sasuke-kun?" She asked him. She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at the wall clock. "I got a patient I have to deal with right now. But I'm sure he's around."

Kaori sighed, "Alright. I'll see you at Miki's party then."

Sakura nodded in agreement and smiled at him. Kaori waved goodbye and headed down the stairs.

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"_**To be what you is you gotta to be what you are…"**_

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"Madara…" Hisoka whispered softly. "….Uchiha?" His voice faded off as he chewed the inside of his cheeks. How could that be possible? His parents told him that they were the only ones left. There were no others left of this legendary clan…no one else. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you must. But this is the truth, I am a Uchiha." Madara shrugged. He casually paced back and forth in front of him. "It just makes you wonder how much they've lied to you."

"They haven't lied to me." Hisoka muttered under his breath, a brief tear falling from his eyes. He sniffed. "They wouldn't lie to me."

"Who? This fucking village?" Madara chuckled. "Haven't you heard the story how they lied to that Uzumaki for twelve years? How they paid every goddamn person in this village to keep their mouths shut?"

Hisoka shook his head violently. He knew that story, Kaori had told him. How everyone in the village had lied point blank to Naruto and yet at the same time harbored feelings of anger and bitterness. "I-I…" He stammered, he placed his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. Was this man bullshitting him, or was he speaking the truth? He did have the Sharingan after all… if he heard what he had to say, he could determine for himself if his story made sense.

Hisoka dropped his hands from his ears and looked up at Madara, "I'm listening."

Madara smirked and crossed his arms. He swiftly glanced at the sun, knowing exactly what time it was outside this genjutsu, and he had to hurry. He mustn't stay too long here. The Leaf people were fucking annoying, but they weren't idiots. It would be only a matter of time before they acknowledged his presence. "Listen carefully, because I'm only going to explain this once. If you would like to know more, you may follow me tonight to the Sound village."

Hisoka narrowed his eyes, "Now that I'm giving you a chance, your offering an ultimatum?"

Madara ignored him, "The truth is as simple as this. You aren't Sasuke's son."

Hisoka blinked.

"Sasuke Uchiha's parents did not die of a 'sickness'. Unless…you consider Itachi Uchiha a sickness."

"Whose-" Hisoka asked with a shaky breath. He was still quite shocked by this stranger claiming that the man that's cared for him his entire life wasn't actually his father.

"Itachi Uchiha." Madara repeated, "Is Sasuke Uchiha's older brother."

"My father didn't have a brother!" Hisoka spat. He was sure of that, why would someone lie about having a brother?

"You think highly of Sasuke, don't you?" Madara snorted, "Itachi murdered Sasuke's entire family. Parents, cousins, aunts and uncles…everyone. Everyone with the last name of Uchiha living in Konoha at the time was wiped of the face of the planet. Except Sasuke."

"What about you?" Hisoka challenged. His fists were shaking uncontrollably. "Why are _you_ still here?"

"I wasn't there that night." He reasoned. "They've been lying to you. Your entire life has been one massive lie."

"N-no it hasn't! That doesn't even make sense. Why does it matter who killed who? There's no point lying about that to me, it doesn't affect me. "

"Because, then they would have to explain why your 'father' left Konoha for a good four years just to get stronger. He became a traitor to this village. He trained under the number one enemy of the Leaf, Orochimaru."

Hisoka twitched. That horrid name, they had covered him in his History class. Orochimaru was one sick bastard that was so twisted in his ways that he actually killed their Third Hokage! But Iruka-sensei hadn't mentioned how his father had joined him; they would have covered that in class right? But then again…they didn't cover the nine tails fox massacre.

"And that's where you come in to play here."

"Me?"

"Orochimaru had a plan. But he needed someone strong, someone stronger than Sasuke. So he and his fucking sidekick, Kabuto, created you."

"…Created?"

"Yes." Madara stretched his neck and grinned at the sky. "You're just a mere clone. A science experiment. They took Sasuke's DNA, precisely the ones that contain the Uchiha bloodline gene and created you." Madara laughed slightly to himself. "Then they kidnapped your mother, injected you _inside_ of her. Technically she's not your mother, since no parts of her genes are in you. She just let you live inside of her for 9 months."

"That's not true." Hisoka said softly. His voice wavering. "That's not true."

"Sasuke and Haruno are not married right?"

"Wha- No. They're not."

"Have you ever wondered why?"

"…Th-they told me-" Hisoka's throat suddenly felt extremely dry. They told him what? Another lie?

"It's because of you." Madara picked a piece of flint of his cloak, and flicked it to the side. "You've been the question mark in their relationship. Sasuke was sucked into this picture. He cared for Haruno, and couldn't leave her while she was pregnant. So he stayed, but out of love for Haruno, not love for_ you_."

"That's bullshit!" Hisoka shouted. He stood up and brushed dirt off of his pants. "That's a fucking lie, and I don't know who the fuck you are nor do I care!" He grabbed his kunai and added an explosive tag to it. Then he quickly traced the barrier with his cunning eyes and found a weak spot. He tossed the kunai precisely at the whole in the barrier that was a size of pencil point. The barrier shattered before him and the sky that had once looked like it was four in the evening quickly transformed to a darker starry night.

Madara's eye widened. It wasn't as if his barrier was unbreakable, but it shouldn't have been that easy to break through. "Impressive." He admitted. Hisoka ignored him and picked up the rest of his weapons, eager to get out of there. "Before you leave I just have one more thing to say."

"I don't want to hear your lies."

"Has Sasuke Uchiha ever said he loves you?"

Hisoka paused in his stride, his blood rushing to his face. His heart beated erratically in chest and he grasped his clothing.

"Has he?"

"…"

"Just as I thought. " Madara clapped his hands, removing the dirt from his palms. "If you want to know more, there's a secret Uchiha room underground the old Uchiha compound. You go there, and you'll see enough proof to know what I was talking about was true."

"There is no compound." Hisoka whispered as his body shivered in the cold.

"Is there?" Madara raised an eyebrow. "Go down two blocks from the Konoha's Police Station. You'll come across an empty neighborhood." He then nodded and waved his cloak across his body and as quick as he appeared, he was gone.

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"_**all my secrets away…"**_

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Hisoka's breathed heavily. Immediately after Madara had left, and he had managed to control his nerves, he sprinted towards the 'Uchiha Compound'. He didn't stop running, even when he was sure he heard someone call his name. He was afraid that if he stopped, he would think about what he was doing and change his mind. It would be easy at this point to just turn back, and head home. It would be easy to just come to the conclusion that Madara was just another lunatic. It would be so easy to believe that all he said was complete lies. It would be easy, but at the same time fucking impossible.

There was no way to pretend after he has heard all this to go back to his old ways. It explained so much, yet left so many questions. It explained why he felt so different, that no matter what he did he couldn't obtain the Sharingan.

And now he stood before the secret Uchiha basement that was completely scattered with scrolls, paintings, and fans. Hisoka bit his lower lip. Just because Madara had been right about there being a Uchiha basement doesn't mean he was right about everything else. Hisoka kept repeating that thought in his head as he carefully stepped about the room, and knelt down to pick up one random scroll. He tenderly fingered it open and nearly dropped it when he saw what it contained.

It was pages and pages of Sharingan secrets. How to obtain it, how to transform it and then there was something called a Mangekyo Sharingan. Hisoka paused and read over it. It explained to obtain it you must kill the person closest to you, most of the time that person happens to be your brother. Hisoka scoffed, some bull. Who would have the nerve to do such horrible deeds? And then at the bottom of the scroll there was a short summary. And a name stood out like it was written in bold. Madara Uchiha.

Hisoka flattened the scroll on the cobblestone floor, and straightened it out with his palms. He read it carefully. Apparently Madara Uchiha was the first person to ever obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan. He had taken the actual eyes of his own brother and placed it in his own. Hisoka felt a shiver creep down his spine, and goose bumps formed on his skin. If that wasn't enough evidence that Madara Uchiha was a fucking lunatic then what else was?

Hisoka rolled the scroll back to its previous position but then something fell from it. It was a picture. He picked it up and gasped.

It was a normal (actually it was quite depressing) picture of a family of four. A mother, father, and two sons. Except the odd thing about this picture was that one of the sons looked identical to him. Same hairstyle, same eyes everything. Just a younger version, or to be precise, exactly what he looked like when he was five. Hisoka flipped the picture to the back and saw that in a feminine handwriting it was written:

_Sasuke, Itachi, Fugaku and Myself._

_June 19__th_

Hisoka flipped the picture back to its correct side and stared long and hard at the five year old Sasuke. Yet, no matter how hard he stared the picture wouldn't change. He was the spitting image of him when he was his age. Almost as if he were Sasuke's clone.

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_**.**_

"_**Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again?"**_

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"So, where's Miki?" Kaori asked grabbing a handful of chips that Hinata had placed out for the party. She eyed him as he did so, but then replied.

"I-I'm not sure." She worriedly tapped her husband's arm. Naruto sighed in agreement. It was getting late, it was almost nine o'clock at night, and no one had heard from her. "S-should we look for her?"

"And ruin the party?" Sasuke said sarcastically. Sakura elbowed him in the stomach, as she glowered at him.

"Hisoka isn't here either. Maybe he's keeping her company?" Sakura offered. Sasuke rubbed his stomach, annoyed.

"Why would he keep her company if he knows they're supposed to be here?" He retorted. "Hisoka's never late for anything."

Kaori nodded, "That's true." He casually popped another chip in his mouth. He wasn't a careless brother or anything; he loved Miki like he loved himself. And that's a lot. But what could happen to her? Konoha is like the safest place in the whole freaking world. "She'll drop by. Probably one of her singing friends took her out to Karaoke again."

Naruto nodded. "That's true. She did come home late that one time after she went to that Karaoke shop."

Sasuke yawned, "If that's your theory, then where's Hisoka?" He asked. He wasn't too worried either. It wasn't like the Earth was going to swallow him up whole on his way home from school.

"Didn't you go looking for him?" Sakura asked Kaori, she started picking at the party hat strap around her neck. It was kind of tight.

"I did. Couldn't find him."

Sakura sighed, and then twirled a piece of hair around her finger. It was one of her nervous habits Sasuke observed. "Can we go looking for them?" Sakura asked softly. She didn't want to sound like that obsessed mother that freaks out about everything. But it was so unlike Hisoka to be late, what if something was wrong?

Kaori and Sasuke groaned.

"Right now?" Kaori asked.

"I'm sure they're fine." Sasuke added. He was just so damn comfortable on the sofa, he'd hate to go looking for those two kids, and find them eating Ramen or something. But then he looked at Sakura's eyes and saw that she was sincerely worried. He sighed aggravated at how weak he still was towards her, and how that nagging feeling to always protect her still hasn't left. "Fine. If we hear nothing from them in about half an hour we'll go looking for them."

Sakura and Hinata nodded, while Naruto rested his chin in his palm. His new thinking position. He claimed it made him look more 'Hokage' worthy.

Kaori still groaned and kicked up his feet to rest it on the coffee table. "You guys shouldn't even bother. I'm 100 percent sure that they're fine."

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"_**Tell the world that I'm coming home…"**_

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Hisoka strolled through the empty night, towards the Konoha's gate. He knew he could easily walk through the gates without anyone detecting him. No one guards it at night; it was Konoha's peaceful years, what was the worst thing that could happen?

Hisoka nearly scoffed at the idea. Everyone in this village was so naïve, everyone here were liars. After he found that picture he had found more clues. He found a newspaper clipping of the Uchiha Masscre, and how Itachi Uchiha single handedly annihilated the entire clan in one night. Except for Sasuke. Hisoka barred his teeth. He had thought that wasn't enough evidence to prove that everything Madara had said was true. Until he found a police document and it had Sasuke's ten fingerprints on it. Everybody knows that no two people have the same fingerprints. Of course there was an exception, unless you're an identical twin. It had taken ten whole minutes to compare his with Sasuke's. But when the time had passed and he figured that sitting there on that cold floor wasn't going to answer his questions, he checked.

They were the same.

He and Sasuke had the same fingerprints. And they were defiantly not identical twins… so what was he? Was he what Madara said he was, a 'clone?' Was he just a manufactured thing created by this Orochimaru creature? Would that explain that evil demeanor he could feel stir inside him sometimes? "Fuck." Hisoka cursed. He shook his head. He had promised himself he wouldn't ask any more questions and start looking for answers.

That's why he decided he had to leave Konoha.

He wouldn't be able to find answers here; everyone had lied to him so far. What was the probability they would tell truth when he asked for it? Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, everyone! Everyone knew and he looked like a fucking dummy for not seeing it.

He adjusted his bag that was filled with a few belongings and picked up his pace. He wanted to reach the Sound Village before dawn and see this 'Orochimaru' man. He had the answers that he needed. Once he got some answers then he'd decide what to do… all he had to do was leave the village and-

"Where are you going, Hisoka-kun?"

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"_**Would you hold it against me?"**_

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**Yay, I updated! **

**Reviews would make my world go round!**

**xooreoxo (ignore grammar mistakes and we'll be best friends :) ) **

**btw! Is that 'fingerprint' rule true? That no two people have the same fingerprints except for identical twins? I learned that in like the 3****rd**** grade…and I'm just way too lazy to google it…so yeahhh XD Let me know!**


	28. Chapter 26

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

Chapter 26.

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"_L-O-V-E"_

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"Where are you going Hisoka-kun?"

Hisoka paused in his stride and slowly placed his two feet together. He let out a deep breath and rotated his body slightly to stare straight into a worried face belonging to Miki. "What are you doing here?"

"I asked you a question first." She attempted to smile at the lame attempt to make a joke, but it faltered quickly. She stuck her hands in her pockets and swung back and forth. " A bit late for a stroll isn't it?"

"Go home." Hisoka turned his back to continue walking but then Miki sprinted in front of him and blocked his way. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Where are you going!" She repeated a bit louder. "And why do you have that backpack on?"

"Move." He glared at her.

"Not until you tell me where you're going!"

Hisoka's eyes narrowed dangerously at her, and then he scoffed. He shoved past her with his shoulder causing her to flinch. He paid no heed to her though, and kept walking. Miki turned around to watch his retreated form and felt tears fall from her eyes.

"Hisoka-kun…" She whispered, brushing her shoulder. "…you're never coming back, are you?" Hisoka stopped again, but didn't face her. Miki brushed a tear from her face with the back of her hand and said, "I still have that necklace."

"What?"

Miki pulled the hidden necklace from beneath her blouse and played with it between her fingers. "You got this for me."

Hisoka quickly glanced behind him to stare at the jewelry, he did recognize it. She wears it every single day that he's known her for…but he didn't remember buying it for her. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did, it was a present on my first Christmas and it was too big for me to wear then, but my Mom kept it safe until I could wear it. It's my favorite item."

"Congrats." Hisoka said sarcastically. Miki kind of smirked at that comment, because he sounded just like his father when he had said it. She softly jogged up to him and unlocked the necklace from her neck.

"I want you to have it."

"I don't want-"

"Take it." She stuck her hand in his pocket and placed the necklace there. "I don't want to be reminded of the jerk that not only forgets my birthday, but also decides to leave the village for some weird reason." She stared hard at him while she said those words, and noticed something flicker in Hisoka's eyes. Even though he was acting quite distant towards her, the old Hisoka had shined through for just a moment.

"I didn't forget your birthday." He defended. "I just have an obligation that I must adhere to. I'll be back."

Miki blinked. "Liar."

"I'm not." Hisoka lied. "You can ask my Mom, I got a special mission."

"Where's the rest of your team? Where's Kaori-kun?" Miki crossed her arms. Hisoka and her brother where on the same exact squad. So if Hisoka was going, Kaori would be too.

"They sent me back for more materials." He nodded his head towards the backpack. "I'm about to meet up with them at the rendezvous spot." Hisoka smiled his famous innocent smile. "We'll be right back. And I'll even keep your necklace so I can return it to you in a few days."

"Hmm," Miki's eyebrow rose suspiciously. "Okay, I'll believe you. But, if I find out your lying Hisoka-kun, I'm going to-" but she was cut off as Hisoka swiftly punched her in her stomach. She knelt over onto the ground gasping for air, and Hisoka looked at her sorrowfully.

"Sorry Miki."

And he knocked her out.

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"_**Because the last time you saw me, is still burned in the back of your mind…"**_

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"Let me just grab a flashlight." Sasuke said as he walked into his house.

"Why do you need a flashlight with your Sharingan?" Naruto teased.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. "I was getting it for _you,_ fox." Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out in response and Sakura sighed impatiently.

"Can you just grab it, so we can look for them?" She crossed her arm and scrunched her face in annoyance. Sasuke nodded at her, slightly irritated at her rushing him…but opened the door and headed to the kitchen. He switched the light on and opened the cabinet drawer and pulled out the flashlight, but then right before he left a piece of paper caught his eye. He walked over it and tenderly picked it up. It was a handwritten note from Hisoka. Sasuke quickly skimmed it with his eyes and then-

"Oh shit."

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"_**Oh na na "**_

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Sakura blew out an impatient breath as she waited outside with Naruto and Hinata. Kaori had decided to stay home just in case the two missing returned there. But Sakura seriously felt they were in trouble, and Kaori should have come with them to help. She could only pray that Hisoka and Miki were safe wherever they were. Suddenly their door opened at Sasuke came out looking completely washed out.

"Dude," Naruto started, "See a ghost in there or what?" Hinata looked at him slightly concerned as well, but all Sasuke could do was run his hands through his hair. Sakura squinted though, when she noticed that his hands were shaking.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" She walked up to him and placed her hand on his check affectionately.

Sasuke turned his face so that her hand wasn't on him anymore, and reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Wordlessly he handed it to her. Sakura took it from him, holding his gaze for a moment but then read it.

_I know the truth. I went to the 'empty neighborhood' or rather the old Uchiha Compound. And honestly I can't believe you guys would lie to me like this. Sasuke isn't my father and I don't even know if I can call Sakura my mother. I need to find answers on my own, so I'm going to my real father and ask him some of the questions I have. Don't look for me, because I won't come 'home' with force. Thanks for the food and the shelter for the past 13 years. Appreciate it._

_Hisoka. _

"Oh my God…" Sakura gasped. Her hand flew over her mouth and her body shook uncontrollably as she read the letter once more, and than five more times. "No, this can't be happening! We have to go get him!" Sakura shouted.

"What! Dude, what's going on!" Naruto interrupted. He must've asked that question at least six times before but no one answered him. So he just snatched the letter from Sakura's hands and read it to himself. "Damn…" he cursed once he was done. He looked up at his best friends, completely baffled by the situation. "Damn." He said again.

Hinata read the letter over Naruto's shoulder, and then looked at Sasuke, shocked. "You're not Hisoka's father?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. This is what he was attempting to avoid all these years. He shook his head and replied, "No." His mouth tasted sour. Hinata stared at him blankly and looked over at Naruto who averted his gaze. Has he known about this all along?

Sakura shook her head. "That's not important! We got to stop him!" She shouted at them. She sprinted onto the street and paused to look at the three of them still standing in front of the house. "Why are you guys still standing there?"

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said nervously.

"Don't Sakura-chan me! I have to go get my son!" Sakura bellowed. "No matter what anyone says to me he's still my son!"

"That doesn't matter." Sasuke cut in.

"_What?"_ Sakura snapped.

Sasuke sighed, and stared at the note as he spoke, "We've lied to him. We can't change that now, he won't come back with us even if we follow him."

"So what do you want me to do, huh?" Sakura demanded, tears welling up in her eyes, "Sit here and wait five years before he comes back from Sound?"

Sasuke nodded. "If that's how long it takes."

"That's fucking bull shit!" Sakura screamed. Tears fell from her face furiously. "That's the most bullshit I've ever heard!"

"Well that's life!" Sasuke spat back. "I told you tell him long ago!" He snarled.

"Guys…" Naruto said cautiously. He looked around, and started to see a few faces appearing from individual's windows. There was even a small crowd of observers off in the distance. The last thing Naruto wanted was the _entire_ village to find out that Hisoka wasn't Sasuke's child. "…you're making a scene."

Sakura ignored him though. "Are you blaming _me_ for this?" She crossed her arms defiantly.

"I'm sure as hell not blaming myself." Sasuke retorted.

Sakura snorted ignorantly, "I told you years ago to get rid of that Uchiha Compound! And now look what it did!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke said more to himself than her. "Are you saying it's _my_ fault because he stumbled across my old home?"

"I did tell you!"

"What did you want me to do? Burn my fucking home down?" Sasuke asked disgustedly.

"Don't get dramatic on me." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Get over your massacre already it happened over twenty years ago!"

"My family was fucking murdered!"

"And my son's gone!" Sakura screamed back. "Forget you, I'm going after Hisoka on my own, are you coming Naruto and Hinata?"

Naruto and Hinata (who was still in shock that for 13 years she thought Hisoka was Sasuke's) stared back at them blankly. At this point, neither of them wanted to choose sides. "Urm…" Naruto scratched his head nervously.

"What if he took Miki with him as well? Huh?" Sakura pointed out.

Hinata visibly gulped and looked at her husband, "S-she does have a point. Miki's still missing." Naruto stared into Hinata's concerned eyes and sighed. He then looked up at a fuming Sasuke and smiled apologetically.

"Teme…" Naruto started.

"Whatever." He snapped. He went back into the home and slammed the door.

The three of them stared at the house for a moment longer but then Sakura placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked at her abruptly. "Let's go."

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"_**But that's just how the story unfolds…and when your plans unravel in the sand what would you wish for?"**_

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Sakura inhaled deeply when she reached the main gate. She felt Naruto stiffen next to her as he bent down next to her to pick up an unconscious Miki from the floor.

"Oh no…" Hinata whispered faintly as she felt Miki's forehead. She was cold.

Sakura was quiet as she watched the two parents hover over their daughter. She knew that Miki was okay, she was out cold, but still breathing. But that didn't settle the erratic beating of her heart. She knew thatHisoka had done this to her. There was no denying it. Even though there wasn't any physical proof, the mere fact that Sasuke had done the same exact thing to her years ago was enough. Though, at least Sasuke had the decency to leave her on a bench…Hisoka left Miki on the cold dirty ground.

"Look," Hinata called out. Everyone watched Hinata as she loosened the tight grip Miki had made with her fist. And when she did, in her palm was the necklace Hisoka had given her when he was four. Hinata held the necklace up suspiciously and looked at Naruto and Sakura's confused faces. "She never takes this off." Hinata explained. She bit her bottom lip nervously. She couldn't understand why it was off now, and why it was in her hand anyways, but all she knew was that this necklace held some specific significance.

Naruto looked at Sakura tiredly, "What are we going to do now, Sakura-chan?" Sakura looked back at him, tears in her eyes.

"Follow him." She said, but with a lot less enthusiasm then before. Maybe what Sasuke was saying was right, that they couldn't bring Hisoka back by force. They'd lied to him his entire life, the chances that he would listen to them were slim. She had fucked up. She should have told him the truth years ago…and now look what happened. It's all blown back up in her face. "Oh, Naruto!" Sakura cried. She placed her head on his shoulder and started to cry.

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"_**This is the Last Night you stand alone…"**_

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Sasuke sat in the dark living room staring at a half empty glass of water. He stared at it for so long he thought he could actually see the water evaporation process happening. His ears twitched when he heard the front door slightly open and in a single moment he could smell the soft strawberry scent that blossomed into the room. He heard her softly walk towards his chair and she leaned over the chair. She lightly wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her chin on his head.

"He's gone."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but kept his gaze on the water.

"Will he come home?" It was such a tiny voice that she said this with; that Sasuke almost thought it had come from her 12 year old self.

"I don't know."

He felt Sakura's jaw clench on the top of his head. _"Why?" _She whispered. Her frustration was so evident in her tone that Sasuke almost flinched. "Why don't you know?"

Sasuke took her arms off of him and stared at her questionably. "What are you saying?"

Sakura stood up straighter and bit her lip. "If he's the exact replica of you then why don't-"

"I know what he's _thinking_?" Sasuke completed her sentence with a sense of disbelief. He could have sworn Sakura was a doctor, and doctors were smarter than that. "That has to be the dumbest thing you've ever said." _And she's said quite a lot of dumb things_, Sasuke added mentally in his head.

"I-I-I!" Sakura struggled for the right words, but nothing came out. She dropped her body into the chair across from Sasuke's and pulled her pink hair. She took deep breaths, almost like a troubled man before he enters an asylum.

"Sakura calm down." Sasuke tried to sound soothing, but her hysteria was kind of driving _him_ crazy. He rather deal with his stress by sitting calmly in a room and stare angrily at the corner than burst out into tears. "Acting that way will not bring him back."

Sakura stopped crying and stared hard at him with her emerald eyes. Sasuke sat straighter, slightly alarmed. "You never loved him." She spat.

Sasuke blinked.

"You never fucking loved him, that's why you're so damn emotionless about this whole predicament! Not a single fiber in your body ever cared for him!"

Sasuke couldn't open his mouth to respond. A surging like emotion roared through his entire body, from his heart to his fingertips. The scent of her stupid strawberry shampoo suddenly burned his nostrils. His eyes burned and watered up, and he couldn't even look at her irritating face. He glanced down at his arm, and for the first time in years, his cursed mark had released. He tried to open his mouth again and speak, but his throat was dry and his mouth tasted bitter. There was an unexplainable emotion soaring through his body, and right now he knew he was dangerous. But he didn't care.

"How can you say that?" he managed to spew out. He tried to keep his emotions in check by averting his eyes and bouncing his legs uncontrollably. "I spent years taking care of a child that wasn't mine."

"I never once heard you say that you loved him, Sasuke-kun, not once!"

"Then why would I stay!" Sasuke snarled. His jaw clenched and he shook his head violently.

"Because you got _stuck _with us!" She shrieked, "He looked exactly like you and there was no way for you to back out of this, because no one would believe you!"

"Is that what you think?" Sasuke stood up and towered over her in two seconds. His chest rose and fell dramatically as his breathing became more labored. "I've never said mentioned those words to you before!"

"Exactly, because you don't love me!" Sakura screamed right into his face at the top of her lungs. Her last few words hung in the air like they were frozen in time. Sakura watched as Sasuke's cursed mark grew and grew, until the odd scribal marks covered his entire body. He stared blankly at her, his mouth slightly agape, almost as if words were to tumble out of them, but they didn't.

She saw his jaw tighten under his pale skin and watched him as he watched her. His eyes searched hers and then retreated into their sockets. He slowly took a step back from her and another one.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura called out. Her voice was below a whisper but Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Don't speak." Sasuke said in a voice that lacked all emotion. "I am trying so hard not to fucking kill you right now." Sakura ran towards him and touched his arm, but he shook her off. His eyes were like pools of black water, staring meekly back at her. "Don't." And with that he opened the door and slammed it hard in her face. He sprinted out into the night and into the street, digging his fingers into his palm, causing them to bleed. He knew the emotion that was pumping viciously in his veins, which was causing the cursed mark to claw at his flesh. _Hurt._ He was hurt by what she had said, and as far as he could tell, it's the worst thing he's ever felt.

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_**Aw. **_

_**Omg did anyone watch that Saturday Night Live with Miley Cyrus! Haha there was this scene with a bunch of old people and they wanted to request for a song so they were like "Could you play 'My Heart Will Go On' by Titanic?" (because the songs by Celine Dione...not Titanic?) omg. I thought it was so funny, and Titanics on abc family right now as I type this …and I thought I should share…so I did! **_

_**And…**_

_**7HeartAndSoul7**__** that's where I got the idea from! The Mickey Mouse movie! Haha , I thought I was the ONLY one whose seen that!**_

_**Reviews would make this rainy weather go away!**_

_**xooreoxo (ignore grammar mistakes)**_


	29. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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"_You put your arm around me for the first time…"_

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"_Sasuke-kun…" _

_It was a rainy morning, the window was slightly open letting in a gentle yet chilly breeze. Sasuke stirred, and his eyes flickered open. He was greeted to see a cheerful pair of green eyes staring lovingly at him. _

"_Why are you waking me up?" Sasuke tried to sound irritated, but couldn't fight off the playful smirk that appeared on his face. Sakura kissed him lightly on his nose and pushed herself off him. _

"_I figured that if I had to get up, you do too." She smiled tugging at Sasuke's plain black t-shirt. "It's only fair."_

_Sasuke grunted and sat himself up. He shook his raven hair out of his eyes and then scratched the back of his neck, "What are your plans for today?" He asked casually after a quick yawn._

_Sakura shrugged and stared out the window watching the rain patter against his window. "I probably have classes with Tsunade…but I'd rather stay here with you."_

_Sasuke's eyes slightly widened when she said those words. "Well, then stay."_

_Sakura tilted her head towards him, her soft pink hair tumbling across her shoulder. "Don't you have something important to do today?"_

"_Nothing too important. There's a meeting a little bit later today with Naruto and Temari." Sasuke explained. He reached over to touch Sakura's hair, but she shied away from him. _

"_You spend a lot of time with her." She blurted, her eyes still towards the window. Sasuke pulled his hand back, confused. _

"_With who?"_

"_Temari." Her voice cracked. _

_Sasuke's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Temari? Gaara's sister? "She's a representative of the Sand." Sasuke explained, cautiously. He wasn't quite sure why Sakura would bring this up all of a sudden, it wasn't like Temari wasn't attractive, she was…but he wasn't in to her like that. _

"_She talks about you."_

"_What?" Sasuke asked quite startled. "To who?"_

"_To me." Sakura admitted. "After every meeting that she has with you, she runs into my office and gushes about how amazing you are."_

_Sasuke blinked. He had no idea he had that kind of effect on her. "I-I didn't know." Sasuke rarely stumbled over his words, but if he did he was seriously puzzled. "But there's nothing much I can do. I'm just doing my job."_

_Sakura stiffened. "So you're defending her?"_

"_No."_

"_Do you want to be with her?"_

"_What? Sakura what are you talking about?" Sasuke reached over to her and grabbed her tiny arms, pulling her towards him. Sakura struggled against him, but in vain. Sasuke was ten times stronger than her. _

"_Well-" Sakura fought back a sob in her throat and took a deep breath. "She's older and more mature, she has a hotter body than me, she's smart, and she's blonde…" Sakura stopped listing when she felt Sasuke's biceps tighten. He wasn't hurting her, but he was scaring her. "I just, I don't know…I feel like if you guys go out to dinner as a group and drink a little too much she might…I might lose you."_

"_Sakura." Sakura flinched at the harsh tone he used for her name. "I don't want you thinking like that."_

"_But she doesn't know we're dating, no one knows, so nothing would stop her from making a move on you!"_

"_It takes two for something like that to happen." Sasuke chuckled, "What do you think she's going to do, rape me?" _

_Sakura pounded his chest with her fist, "It's not funny!" Sakura laughed slightly though as she said it, "I'm being serious!" _

_Sasuke chuckled again and his arm relaxed around her. He brushed her hair back with hand and tugged gently at the ends. "You're becoming paranoid."_

_Sakura pouted playfully at him, "Love creates paranoia." _

_Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her and smirked, "Maybe it does." He let her kiss him passionately and then broke the kiss. "Get dressed and come eat breakfast." Sasuke ordered as he hopped off the bed and headed towards the door. Sakura stood up and sprinted towards him before he left the room. She threw herself at him and wrapped her hands around his neck. _

"_I love you." _

"_I thought that we already made that clear…" He tried to pry her off of him but she wouldn't let go of him. "Sakura…!"_

"_I'll love you forever and ever and ever and ever…"_

"_Sakura I get it!"_

"_and ever…"_

"_Sakura!"_

"_and ever…and ever…"_

"_SAKRUA!"_

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"_**Love creates paranoia…"**_

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"Do you hear that?" Naruto asked as he heard a recurring banging at his door. Hinata slowly lifted her head from Miki's bed and wiped her eyes.

"W-who could that be so late at night?" She croaked, her voice dry from dried tears. There had been so much that had happened in the span of the last 24 hours, and she really did not need some strange visitor at freaking three in the morning. Kaori stirred next to her, his head cuddled next to his sister's arm. "C-can you go see who it is, please?"

Naruto stretched up and dragged his feet towards the door. "I'm COMING!" Naruto shouted. He opened the door and nearly slammed it closed when he saw his best friend before him. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke kept his head low, and shoved past him. "I need a place to stay."

"Then go home." Naruto offered. "Look, teme, we've all had a long day but you need to go home and get some rest. We'll figure out what to do-"

"If I go home, I'll kill her." Sasuke showed him his arm and revealed the mark. Naruto flinched, he hadn't seen those dark marks in years. "I _can't_ go home." Sasuke stressed. He leaned against Naruto's wall and slid to the ground. He then rested his head against his propped up knee and sat motionless, almost like a statue.

Naruto sighed and sat next him. "Teme, what's wrong?"

For a while, Sasuke didn't say anything. "She said-" Sasuke started, but then took in a deep shaky breath his face still against his knee. "She said 'I didn't love her.'" Sasuke's pounded his fist against the floor and Naruto cringed. "She had the fucking _nerve_ to tell me-" Sasuke cut himself off and grunted. "I gave that girl and her fucking son everything, and she had the fucking _nerve_ to utter those words to me." Naruto watched his best friend crumble in front of him and all he wanted to do was reach over and give him a massive friendly hug.

"Sasuke-teme." Naruto started, actually reaching over towards him, slightly considering hugging him. But then he recoiled, he was pretty sure Sasuke would stick the nearest lamppost up his rear end just by the idea. "Teme…she's just going through a hard time. She might have said some things she didn't mean. You know she knows that you love her."

"S-she…" Sasuke stopped and grabbed his chest to contain the burning emotion in his chest. His cursed mark increased rapidly and all he could do to attempt to control it was to attempt to control his breathing.

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_"I've missed you."_

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_"Sing for me."_

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"_I will never turn my back on you."_

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"_I love you, Sasuke-kun."_

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Sasuke wiped his face and tried his absolute hardest to erase her from his head. But it felt like each time he told himself to 'not' think of her, he ended up thinking of her more. "Naruto…" Sasuke lifted his head and Naruto was in shock to see traces of tears on his face. "I love that girl so fucking much."

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"_**It's never enough to say I love you."**_

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Tsunade rubbed her temple, clearly agitated. "So, he's gone."

"Yes ma'am." Shikamaru responded. He awkwardly shifted his weight to his other foot and sighed. It was so nostalgic. The entire former rookie nine stood before their Hokage in the early morn, quite distressed. "According to witnesses he left late last night…"

"11:35 pm." Sakura muttered under her breath. Shikamaru eyed her from the corner of his eye, and sighed again. She looked an utter mess. Her lovely pink hair was completely disheveled, there were purple like bruises under her eyes, and a coffee stain on her white t-shirt. "That's the time he left."

"Were you there when he left, Sakura?" Tsunade asked cautiously.

"…no." Sakura bit her bottom lip.

"Then you can't know the exact time he left." Tsunade reasoned. She didn't want to be harsh on Sakura, but they had to treat this properly if they were ever going to find Hisoka. She relaxed back into her chair and stared into Sakura's tired eyes, "And the reason he left was because he found out the truth, am I right?"

There was an awkward silence in the room and everyone either turned to stare at Sakura or stared at their shoes.

Sakura brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ears, "Yes. He now knows that Sasuke-kun isn't his father." She whispered. She could almost feel the tension in the air, and she heard Ino cough bitterly. Sakura closed her eyes briefly; Ino had previously confirmed that she was beyond furious that Sakura would hide such a massive lie from her best friend. First, she hid the fact that she was sleeping around with Sasuke, and got pregnant with his son, which for the record, she wasn't…she just got pregnant with some white haired, goggled wearing freak! It was absolutely crazy. There were just some things people don't hide from their best friends.

"Speaking of the Uchiha," Kiba interrupted. He dramatically gestured in the room, "Where is he?" Everyone scanned the people around them and realized for the first time during the thirty minutes that they had been in the Hokage's office, Sasuke wasn't there.

"He's most likely glad the jig is up, and he no longer has to act the role of the father." Ino brought up. "Typical." Sakura tensed when she heard the words, and even though she had said the same thing to him the day before, it sounded kind of cruel.

"Ino shut up."

Ino quickly closed her mouth and glared at her friend. "Naruto, what did you just say to me?"

"I told you to shut up." Naruto's voice grew a bit stronger. "He's at my place, sleeping."

"Why didn't you wake him up for this urgent meeting?" Tsunade interrupted. "This has more to do with him than it has to do with you."

Now usually Naruto would have gone off on that comment. Expressing how he's the next Hokage and should be treated as one. But today his heart was somewhere else. "He's tired." He explained with a simple shrug. "He had a rough night, and I didn't feel like ruining his morning as well." Naruto snuck a look at Sakura who was staring at him intensely. Their eyes met for a split second and Sakura quickly looked away. "Whether you guys believe it or not, he's hurting."

Sakura started picking the pale peach color off her nails and chewed her inner cheek. She had to admit after Sasuke had stormed out last night, she was actually worried. He was a grown man and could handle himself, but she didn't want him to leave her. Just like how Hisoka had gone up and left her as well. She just- she didn't know. She didn't know why she said those stupid words to him the night before, when deep down she knew it wasn't true. She needed a scapegoat to relieve her emotions. And Sasuke just happened to have the misfortune of receiving it.

"Okay, listen up." Tsunade cleared her throat. "From what we have learned from a previous similar experience, I am not sending six of you guys to bring him back. If he wants to come back he will."

"But-!" Sakura interjected. "He's only a boy!"

"And so was Sasuke." Tsunade retorted. "And remember how much trouble that caused us?"

"Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru started, "Back then we were thirteen if not twelve. No matter how troublesome it will be, we are clearly capable of bringing back that child."

"And to think about the consequences of that child joining up with Sound?" Neji added. "We do not need another Reconstruction Period, just because we commend this behavior."

"And I can't do that." Tsunade said.

"Why not?" Neji demanded. He reached into his pocket and fingered a picture that he always stored there. It was a picture of his five year old daughter, Arimi. He had priorities now, and if he had to tie up that stupid fake Uchiha brat to a tree stump just to ensure that his daughter will be safe, then he would do so.

"Because everyone seems to forget, there is no law saying that you cannot leave Konoha."

"Oh, yes there is! There has to-" Ino protested. But then she paused when Shikamaru touched her shoulder.

"She's right." He turned to face the rest of his comrades. "There is no law saying that he can't leave Konoha if he wants to."

"E-even if he's just a child?" Hinata asked.

"Even so."

"This isn't some normal running away! " Kiba pointed out. "He's going to bloody Orochimaru!"

"No matter how troublesome that seems its-"

"-his choice." Sakura finished. She looked up at them with a sad smile on her face. "If he wants to come back, he will. And if he comes back with evil intentions…then…then-"

"We'll deal with him as a traitor." Tsunade pronounced.

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"_**But in the end everyone ends up alone…"**_

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"Close the blinds…" Sasuke murmured. "…Sakura."

"Dipshit, this isn't Sakura." Kaori snapped, opening the blinds wider and allowing an irritating, bright sunlight into the room. Sasuke grunted and rubbed his eyes. It took a moment for him to recognize his surroundings as he slowly sat up. He was lounged on top of Naruto's sofa with a comfy blue blanket tossed on top of him.

"Where's Naruto?" He croaked. His voice sounded sort of dry and he felt some dried drool on the side of his mouth and tried to wipe it off.

"Dad? He's at a meeting." Kaori replied. "The one where they decide to do with your _'son'_." He emphasized the last word with such a bitter resentment that Sasuke was actually quite shocked the usually chipper blonde could use that sort of tone. Impressive.

"Last time I checked he was your best friend." Sasuke smartly pointed out. He threw the blanket off of him and scratched his hair tiredly. He coughed uncomfortably, "How's your sister?"

"Alive." Kaori's eyes narrowed. "Surprisingly. I could totally kick Hisoka's ass right now. That stupid son of a bastard!" He formed a fist with his hand and pounded it against his other hand angrily. "If there was one single hair out of place on Miki's hair, I might of- I might of-"

"Whatever." Sasuke scratched his unshaven five o'clock shadow. "Your sisters fine and healthy and Hisoka's still gone. So saying what you _would have_ done _if_ something else had happened is a waste of breath."

Kaori lips became tight. "You're only saying that cause Hisoka's not your son anymore!" He spat.

Sasuke groaned. He could not take this stupid argument again. "Hisoka was never my son. So your point is invalid."

"No it isn't!" Kaori retorted childishly.

Sasuke sighed impatiently and stood up. "I am not going to sit here and argue with you." He grabbed his coat and walked out the front door. He was welcomed by a slight chill in the morning air and raised the collars so they were tighter around his neck. He then took a quick glance at his hand and realized that the marks from last night had vanished completely. He usually can remember the instant relief of when it recedes, but this time there was no memory of that moment. Sasuke stuck his hands in his pockets quickly and rationalized, that either last night he had been really out of it, or the memory loss from the cursed mark had started again.

In fact now that he thinks of it, he could vaguely remember his argument with Sakura. He hoped he hadn't done or said anything rash to her. And instantly this single thought burst into a catastrophic domino effect of thoughts. What if he had done something, and that's why he was at Naruto's? He was pretty angry when he stormed out, could he have struck her?

No, he would never hit her…oh wait. A few years ago he did, under the same influence of the cursed mark.

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"_**Where were you? Where were you?"**_

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Sakura tightened her light pale green cardigan around her body. She briskly walked in the streets, her head held up high. She focused on the path ahead of her, instead of the rude villagers gossiping about her as she walked. She was the topic of the town…again.

"_I can't believe it." One villager whispered._

"_She was such an angel a few years ago, amazing. Ah-mazing how people can change."_

"_Now we have to watch our backs for her insane son…damn. Konoha used to be such a safe place twenty years ago."_

Sakura closes her eyes as she walked, attempting to tune out the annoying gossip. She learned a long time ago that retaliating to these people's opinions is completely pointless and waste of breath. People will think what they want to think.

Sakura sighed and briefly opened her eyes, but her breath got trapped in her lungs when she saw a familiar figure turning the corner.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered. She felt small tears form in the corner of her eyes and brushed them away with the back of her hand. She loved him so much, and she knew she must've hurt him with the words she had said the night before. Sasuke _had_ done so much for her, and she knew it…and she had to tell him. She just had to. Sakura sprinted through the crowd and shoved some of the ignorant villagers to the side.

"Sasuke-kun!" she called out as she got closer, but he seemed not to hear her. He was lost in his own thoughts, his hands in his pockets and his trademark spiky hair poking up from his collared jacket. As she got closer, she slowed her pace and gently touched his shoulder.

Sasuke stopped walking and, with only his head, turned it so his one left eye stared at her directly. His navy eyes narrowed when he recognized her.

"Sakura."

Sakura smiled shyly and tugged at the sleeves of her cardigan. "Hi."

Sasuke snorted and turned his head away from her and started to walk away again. But Sakura grabbed his elbow.

"No, Sasuke-kun, wait." She pleaded.

Sasuke frowned, "I'm done waiting for you Sakura." He snatched his arm away from her and continued to walk away. Sakura stood there, her hand still held in front of her like she was still grasping his arm. She felt her bottom lip tremble, and she felt like this might be the last time Sasuke would stay with her. Unless she fixed it.

"I love you." Sakura blurted, tears cascading down her face. She dropped her hand to her side pathetically and sniffed. "I love you so much, and I don't want you to leave me." Sasuke hesitated. "I want to fix this…fix us."

Sasuke turned around to face her and Sakura slightly gasped, appalled by the state he was in. For the first time in years, Sasuke actually looked stressed. He had purple like bruises around eyes and his eyes were red. Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and grabbed the end of his hair. "Sakura, we are so fucked up."

"No we're not, Sasuke-kun, we're-"

"Yes we _are_!" Sasuke snapped, completely interrupting Sakura. "We've been together for how long? We're not married, 'our' kid isn't really 'ours', now he's off with fucking Orochimaru… I still have things to do with my life that I haven't gotten done, and… fuck it. Sakura just fuck it all!"

Sakura bit her lip, slightly taken back. "But I love you." She muttered.

Sasuke snickered. He shook his head letting his raven bangs cover his eyes. "Well sometimes love isn't enough." Sasuke eyed Sakura's crestfallen figure, and instantly felt that annoying pang of guilt. He hated hurting her, he did, but he had to tell her this for their sanity. Sasuke walked up to her and placed a hand at the back of her neck. "Sakura, I don't want you to cry over this."

Sakura kept her gaze at Sasuke chest, his musky scent overwhelming her senses. "How can I not cry when I've lost everything dear to me in less than 24 hours?"

"You haven't lost me." He argued. He fingered the tips of her hair, and sighed. "I've just done a lot of thinking, and we need space."

"But I don't want space away from you." She placed her head on his chest and wrapped her small arms around his waist. She felt his body tense, but then it gently and slowly relaxed. He slowly placed his arms around her as well and rested his head on top of hers. "We can fix us…we can." She continued to plead against his warm chest. "And we can find Hisoka as well, we'll be back to normal. We just can't be splitting up."

"Sakura-"

"Sasuke-kun, we can't." Sakura tears fell heavily now, soaking his shirt. "I can't leave you, not right now." Sasuke heard her plea and unconsciously his arms tightened around her. All he wanted to do was protect her from the pain…but he was the pain.

"Either can I." Sasuke kissed her forehead gently, and forced himself to push her away. "But I have to." Sasuke started to reach towards her to brush away a tear, but dropped his hand. He had to learn to stop trying to protect her, and this was the first step. He slowly backed away from her and nodded a slight good-bye. He turned away fully and picked up his speed without looking back.

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"_Fast life, Drug life, Thug life, Rock life…"_

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**Omg. I am aware that this is SOOOOO LATE. But believe me I had like INSANNEEE writers block…but like I know whats going to happen in the story…so it was like unfathomable writer's block. Lol….maybe it's just called laziness….boo. but I reached 400 reviews! Ahh! I thank you guys so much, I was so psyched when I saw that, and yeah! Love you guys and love your support!**

**Reviews make my life so worthwhile!**

**xooreoxo**


	30. Chapter 28

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O n e y e a r l a t e r

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Chapter Twenty Eight.

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"_**This night's a perfect shade of Dark Blue..."**_

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Sasuke twitched reflexively to the charming birds singing their morning tunes outside his window. He grunted as he sat up and stretched. He glanced at his digital clock and then rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands.

"Fuck." He muttered to himself as he sprinted upwards and into the bathroom. He quickly dashed a toothbrush into his mouth and instantly went into his automatic daily routine, but with a speedier pace. He had promised himself the previous night that he would wake up at the crack of dawn so that he could start another tedious search for his brother.

Sasuke spat the residue from the paste into the sink and wiped his mouth with the back of his palm. Before he walked out, he quickly caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He was clearly much older than his naïve eighteen year old self. His face was more broadened and angular. But there was something off with his eyes. He peered in closer into the mirror and squinted at his reflection. At the same time they looked like his average obsidian eyes, yet…they looked just a bit off. Sasuke stood there for a moment longer and shrugged it off. It didn't really matter anyways. As long as he could see through his eyes, and turn his Sharigan on, then he was good.

He snatched a shirt and a pair of pants from a pile on the floor and pulled on a pair of black combat boots. He quickly laced them up and equipped himself with all the necessary weapons he needed. Sasuke reached for a map that he had pinned on his wall. He laid it out flat on the kitchen table and smoothed out the wrinkles. With his teeth he opened the cap to a red marker that he found lying around and circled one of the only unmarked towns on the map.

"Suna…" Sasuke said to himself. That's where he was going to look for Itachi. In the Sand Village.

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"_**She will be loved…"**_

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Naruto happily strolled through the village with a plastic grocery bag filled with uncooked ramen in one hand and in his other hand, normal food for his family. He smiled at all the villagers that passed him by and acknowledged him cheerfully. Just the usual day as Naruto Uzumaki, the most amazing ninja in Konoha, walked around. Naruto grinned at himself at the thought and picked up his pace through another great day. He then noticed his best friend in the near distance in his all black attire, completely clashing with the mood of the village at the moment.

"Yo! Teme!" Naruto called out. Sasuke kept walking, even though Naruto was a hundred percent sure he heard Naruto calling him. "TEME!" He screamed a bit louder as he got closer to him.

Sasuke stopped and stared at the sky as if he were cursing the heavens before turning to face Naruto. "What?"

"Where are you going? You're dressed like you mean business." Naruto pointed out.

Sasuke ignored him, "How is it that I always seem to run into you?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Because our brains are connected. It's like I can read your mind."

"Che."

"Seriously, like I can prove it!" Naruto defended, "You're going to look for Itachi aren't you?"

"Well aren't you a damn genius." Sasuke retorted sarcastically.

Instead of returning back with another smart comment with his own, Naruto just looked at Sasuke forlornly. "Teme…" He started.

"I don't want to hear it." Sasuke snapped harshly.

"…revenge won't make you happy." Naruto continued, completely ignoring Sasuke. "Seriously, aren't you tired? You've been chasing this man for more than ten years!"

"I don't see your point."

Naruto grunted. "You're such a mood killer."

"Don't care," Sasuke shrugged and adjusted his weapons. "I have to leave now."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for just a little bit longer, his cerulean eyes searching Sasuke's and then he sighed tiredly. "Okay, I'll see you when you get back."

Sasuke nodded and walked away from him with a slight nod of goodbye. Naruto watched his best friend's retreating body blend with the swarm of people. He felt his fist tighten around the plastic bag in his hand, his best friend was suffering and there was nothing he could really do to help him.

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"_**I love you and that's what you're getting yourself into…"**_

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_**. **_

_**(FLASHBACK)**_

_After about ten minutes of continuous knocking to some horrible beat, Sasuke opened the door to his apartment. He clenched his jaw when he saw the two most irritating people on the planet. _

"_Happy Seventeenth Birthday, Sasuke-kun!" _

"_Happy Birthday Teme!" _

_Sakura and Naruto cheered simultaneously, as the popped poppers at his front door and colorful confetti floated towards the ground. Sasuke crinkled his nose in annoyance and was about the slam the door when Naruto managed to jam his foot in the way and glare at Sasuke. _

"_Do not be an ass today Teme. Sakura worked really hard for your gift." Naruto hissed at him softly so that only he would hear. Sasuke made a frustrated noise in the back of this throat and opened his door wider to let them in, Naruto smile reappeared on his face and patted on his shoulder as he passed by. Sasuke frowned, but ignored him as Sakura on one crutch hobbled in and a nicely wrapped present in the other hand. _

"_Where is your other crutch?" Sasuke questioned. He took the gift from her hand and let her lean on him as she walked further into the room._

"_Silly, how was I going to carry your present?" Sakura laughed at his apparent lack of common sense. Sasuke frowned at her. _

"_The Dobe does have two hands…you are aware of that?"_

_Sakura smiled at him, "I wanted to give you your gift myself." Sasuke slightly shook his head at her and eased her onto the sofa. _

"_There's no sense you buying me anything. I tried to murder you a month ago." Sasuke said to her. But, Sakura gave him an incredulous look, and didn't say anything. _

"_Okay! We came here to deliver gifts!" Naruto interrupted. He tossed Sasuke his gift and Sasuke caught it easily. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto. _

"_It better not be anything stupid." He warned. _

_Naruto rolled his eyes, "Just open it!"_

_Sasuke carefully undid the horrible wrapping of the gift and opened the lid to a small brown box. Sasuke looked into the box and even turned it upside down. "There's nothing in here, idiot."_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…_Can you hear it?" Naruto asked giddily. _

"_Hear what?" Sasuke snapped at him. Sakura looked at Naruto, clearly confused as well._

"_It's the bitter sound of revenge!" Naruto crossed his arms. "After you defeat Itachi there would be no cheers from a crowd…nothing. Just you, a dead body and silence!"_

"_Oh my gosh…" Sakura stared at Naruto with disbelief, completely dumbfounded by Naruto. She looked at Sasuke apprehensively, waiting for his reaction. _

"_Well?" Naruto cheekily said. "Do you like it, I thought it was really deep and could help you put things into perspec-OW!" Naruto shrieked the last part as he cradled his head in hands. Sasuke had tossed the empty box as hard as he could at Naruto's head causing it to bleed._

"_Both of you get out!" Sasuke ordered angrily._

"_But! Sasuke-kun, you didn't even open mine!" Sakura shouted back at him. Sasuke glared at her and gripped her shoulder. He felt his curse mark pulsating under his skin and barred his teeth. _

"_Get out." He hissed at her. "Now."_

_Sakura bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling and grabbed her crutch and slammed his door shut. Naruto stared at him and suddenly felt his anger rise. _

"_Why do you have to be such an ass? She hasn't done anything!"_

"_Because you have to be such a fucking dickhead," Sasuke snarled back at him. _

"_Yeah? Well what does have to do with her?" _

"_I don't want to open her gift and find something similar inside." Sasuke explained rudely, "Now did you not hear me when I said you should get out?"_

_Naruto stared at Sasuke dead on and reached for Sakura's gift on the couch. He then opened it in front of him, and took out a picture frame in a shape of a glass flower. Naruto held the picture for him to see. "It's your original photo of Team Seven that you left behind. She made the frame." Sasuke didn't say anything and stuck his hands in his pockets, suddenly the atmosphere felt stiff. _

"_I just wanted to let you know, that even though I know your back now, you still have Itachi in the back of your mind. And going out to look for him and killing him will not benefit anyone. You might even regret it." Naruto side stepped him and touched the door knob. "Happy fucking Birthday." And then he walked out. _

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"_**I've falling for a long time now while washing in a river of denial…"**_

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Sasuke shook the sand out of his boots as he entered a small traditional coffee shop.

"Evening sir, what would you like to drink?" The young woman asked as greeted Sasuke at his table. Sasuke removed the black hood from his head and shook some sand out of his hair. He hated coming to the Sand Village, it was all so damn grimy.

"Coffee. No Sugar." He ordered picking up a small package of sugar and playing with it in his hands. The young woman smiled at him, trying to catch his eye, but then gave up. He was completely oblivious to her charm, his mind too focused on finding Itachi.

Sasuke crunched the sugar in his palm and the mere thought. Itachi was either purposely avoiding him, or Sasuke wasn't looking hard enough. He pulled at his roots tiredly. It was so damn frustrating to look for a single person in the entire ninja world. It was almost fucking impossible.

"Hell no!" a shrill female voice screamed from the doorway. "Is that you Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked up at the door and saw a maybe 20 year old girl with short curly black hair and bright green eyes that contrasted greatly with her auburn skin.

"Should I know you?" Sasuke asked cautiously as the girl sprinted and sat across from him at his table. She slammed her hand against the table and smiled toothily.

"Are you saying you don't remember me?"

"No."

The youthful girl sat back and crossed her arms. She shook her head almost in disbelief that the Sasuke Uchiha was sitting in front of her. "It's me, Amaya!"

"...?"

She laughed at his blank stare, "Remember? You, Naruto, Kakashi and the man with the creepy white eyes whose name I can't remember…escorted me from the Suna to the Mist Village."

Sasuke stared at the girl and it was like it instantly hit him. He vaguely remembered going on a mission after Sakura said that she was pregnant with Hisoka. It did involve a young seven year old girl…but the woman sitting in front of him now was so grown. Has that much time passed?

"Remember!" She asked again. She placed her hand over his and gripped it. "It's so weird to see you!"

Sasuke calmly removed his hand from hers and stuck it in his pockets. "Aa."

"Still aloof as usual," She smiled. "What are you doing here in the Sand? On some top secret?" Amaya grabbed Sasuke's black coffee and drank from it. Sasuke raised a single eyebrow at her, she was a bit forward.

"Something like that." Sasuke replied. He could feel his face hardened at the thought that he was still sitting in this musky coffee shop, wasting time.

"It's so weird." Amaya started. "I thought I was seeing things a few weeks ago."

"…"

Amaya leaned in closer to him and whispered almost childishly, "On my way back from the Mist, I saw this boy who looked exactly like you!"

Sasuke's heart faltered, and his mouth suddenly felt dry. "What?"

"I know! I must sound crazy," Amaya reasoned, "But I did, the same hair everything, he just looked younger. Like a little compact version of you," She laughed at her small joke, but her laugh was cut short when she saw how_ pale_ Sasuke was. "Sasuke…"

"Where did you see him?"

"The boy?" Amaya pondered for a moment. "At the little fork road about eight miles from here. He was just standing there; lost in his own mind I guess…I didn't really think much about it, just that he looked so much like you."

Sasuke grunted and closed his eyes briefly. Hisoka. She had seen Hisoka, and hadn't even thought much to do anything about it. Obviously he fully couldn't blame her, she had no way of knowing that the little boy that she had seen had been missing for about a year now.

Sasuke grinded his teeth together, "Sakura…" He muttered unconsciously to himself.

"What?" Amaya asked. "What did you say? And what's the matter with you anyways…you're acting really strange ever since I mentioned that kid."

"Nothing."

"Huh?"

"Nothing's the matter." Sasuke took a nervous glance at his pitch black coffee. "I don't know the kid you're talking about."

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"_**Get a package for your wishes…"**_

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**A Few Days Later**

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"I do not need a check-up." Sasuke argued heatedly. He was currently in Tsunade's medical office arguing his case. She, for some unfathomable reason, believed that he needed a medical examination, when he felt perfectly fine.

"Sasuke, according to these files, you haven't been checked in about a year."

"So?"

"So, you're a ninja. And since you randomly go on your own private missions you could have contracted something that you're not aware of." Tsunade observed. She glanced up at him. "Is there any reason you're avoiding this?"

Sasuke glared at her, and crossed his arms. She knew damn well that Sakura was his examiner. "No."

"Okay then." She smirked at pointed towards the door, her purple nail polish glistening in the light. "Go to your assigned room that's written on this paper and hand it to your nurse." Tsunade handed him a slip of paper with the room number on it. Sasuke snatched it from her bitterly and stuck it in his pockets. He turned around to walk out but Tsunade called out.

"What?"

"If you don't go to your appointment with that specific examiner, you'll be on suspension from missions. And it will be mandatory that you remained quarantined in the village."

Sasuke turned a full 180 and glowered at Tsunade. "That's fucking bullshit."

"Watch your mouth!" Tsunade yelled at him. "Its new rule, every ninja must be checked once a year or be refrained from their duty." She mockingly waved the scroll in front of him. Sasuke scowled at her and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Tsunade quickly grabbed the scattered papers that fell from her desk because of the gust of wind that came from the door. She smiled gently to herself. "You're welcome Sakura." She said lightly to herself.

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"_**I'm addicted and I just can't get enough…"**_

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Sasuke sat on the stiff examination bed and stared out into the window. He felt his heart beat faster and he could feel his cursed mark pulsating insanely on his neck. He hadn't felt it in a while and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He hadn't seen Sakura at all during the past year. He had purposely taken the measurements to avoid her at all possible costs. He had been with this girl for years, so it wasn't like her schedule was unknown to him. He knew her daily routine like it was his own. The paths she took to work, her favorite lunch spots, etc. He knew her favorite author, so he avoided that section at the book store. He knew the first thing she bought when she walked into a grocery store, milk, so he made sure that was the last place he went to. He knew that she hated wearing dresses on Tuesdays, she loves pleated skirts, hates girls with tattoos on their faces-

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke snapped out of his trance and dropped his hand from his neck like it was a 10 ton weight. "Hey." She stared at him for a moment and then took the pen from behind her right ear. Her light pink hair cascaded into her face. She cut her bangs, Sasuke noticed.

"What are you-um never mind. That's a stupid question." She smiled at him and lightly knocked herself on the head. "Obviously you're here for your check-up."

Sasuke didn't say anything to her, but just nodded his head.

Sakura nervously looked at him as she pulled a stool over and sat down on it. She tapped her clipboard anxiously. "Okay so I have to go through some routine questions."

Sasuke nodded again and returned his gaze back towards the window.

Sakura stared at him for a moment, but then cleared her throat, "Do you regularly smoke?"

"No."

"Do you usually drink alcohol?"

"No."

"Do you have any breathing problems that you find a hazard to yourself?"

"No."

"Do you regularly have sexual-" Sakura stopped herself short and awkwardly re-crossed her legs. Sasuke, completely clueless to why Sakura cut herself off, turned from the window and stared at her with his onyx eyes. He then took that moment to take her all in. She had cut her bangs a bit shorter so that it stopped short of her shocking green eyes, but she kept it at a manageable shoulder length. She obviously had aged, but in a good way. Her skin was tanner that it usually was around this time of year…had she been laying out in the sun? Or had she on vacation, even so she was still strikingly beautiful.

"Why did you stop?"

Sakura squirmed uncomfortably and gave him the most awkward smile he had seen in a while, "N-nothing. It was just an obvious question."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing..." Sakura started brushing it off.

"Sakura." Sasuke said in a deadpanned voice. Sakura felt instant chills crawl up her spine at the sweat sound of her name from his lips…even though it was unnerving. She felt complied to go on.

"Do you regularly have sexual intercourse?" Sakura said really quickly. "But obviously you haven't because you can't because of your cursed mark, and that cursed mark is so dangerous that it would kill anyone when emotions trigger, so you couldn't be having sex because it's too dangerous and people would die, and that's never good and-"

"Yes." Sasuke cut into her ramble. He stared at her blankly, not removing his eyes from hers.

"What?" She blurted. "You can't mean that-"

"The answer was yes Sakura. Don't get to into it." Sasuke said lacking any form of emotion. Sakura stared at him her mouth slightly open. He glanced at her fingers and could see them visibly shaking. She quickly gathered her emotions and placed her hair behind her ears.

"I don't understand. I thought you said that your cursed mark would trigger."

"I did. But it didn't." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly. It wasn't like he was fabricating some massive lie to get her jealous. What he was saying was a hundred percent true. There are occasions (maybe once a week) where he goes to a whore house, picks a chick, and bangs her. It wasn't that big of a deal to him. It was a stress reliever, and honestly there were not enough emotions for his cursed mark to trigger. Just hormones running wild.

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. In her heart and her soul she was beyond pissed that he had sex with another woman when she had been with him for fifteen years! Fifteen fucking years she nearly begged him to sleep with her, and he completely refused! Sakura slammed the clipboard on the counter and brought out her stethoscope wordlessly.

Sasuke watched her rough actions that revealed how ticked off she was, and Sasuke couldn't help but smirk a bit to himself. She was so damn readable.

"Take off your shirt." She ordered. Sasuke did as he was told and pulled off his black tee revealed his perfectly chiseled chest. Sakura felt heat start to rise on her cheeks but breathed out a silent breath. She leaned over him and placed the stethoscope over his heart. "Breath in hold it for three seconds, and then let it out."

Sasuke did as he was instructed but right as he inhaled her sweet strawberry, it caused his entire neck to convulse. Sakura looked up at him alarmed.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?" She asked concerned. Sasuke gripped the side of the bed, his grip tearing into the fabric.

"Take…a step…back!" He managed to scream out in between spasms. Sakura quickly pulled her stethoscope away from him and quickly flattened herself against the wall on the opposite side of the room and opened a window.

"Is that better?" She questioned. Sasuke nodded weakly as he pulled his hand away from his neck. It was still shaking, but at least he could breathe. She nodded and sat back at her stool, keeping a safe distance. "I see that it still does that." She observed, somewhat cheekily.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "It hasn't activated for an entire year, until now." Sakura stared at him, her green eyes searching his.

"So what, do I trigger it?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Sasuke remarked. He grabbed his shirt and placed it on. "If you're done, I'm leaving." He slid off the examination bed and placed his black combat boots back on. He was lacing his boots when he felt someone staring at him. He looked up and saw Sakura who was close to tears.

"I guess I won't see you for another year."

Sasuke paused and sat up. He scratched his chin uncertainly, "Not necessarily."

She stared at him sadly and shifted her weight from one leg to other tiredly. "Okay, well I'll see you." She muttered under her breath. She opened the door for Sasuke and he stood up a slowly strolled by her. But then he stopped. He knew this really could be the last time he will run into her for another year. And he knew this would be the only opportunity to tell her what he knew.

"Sakura," he started thoughtfully. He wasn't quite sure whether what he was about to say, he would completely regret it or not, but he couldn't hide it from her.

"Yes?"

"I have an idea where Hisoka is."

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**I actually have a reason for why this was so late! My laptop charger caught on fire, so I had to contemplate whether I should buy a new laptop all together…or a charger. In the end I bought a charger so yeah! Hope you enjoyed it and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon !**

**Reviews make my world go round!**

**xooreoxo**


	31. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

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"_She is everything I want…"_

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"What?" Sakura nearly spat at him. Sasuke noticed her hands were trembling and her bottom lip had become noticeably pale. "You _saw _him!"

"No." Sasuke said calmly. He stood straighter so that he had the height advantage and stared her down. "I was told where he was on a mission."

Sakura let out a small yelp and clamped her right hand against her mouth, "No fucking way!" Her smile grew tenfold and as she grabbed Sasuke's forearm. "Sasuke-kun that's great! Oh my – I don't even know what to say! Now we can go get him and-"

"Sakura." Sasuke interrupted, removing her grip from his arm. It was causing his cursed mark to start irritating his nerves in his neck. But he also knew that opening his mouth to tell her what he knew would be a bad idea anyways. It's not like he had any way to validate what Amaya saw. "We can't go get him."

Sakura's face dropped in an instant. And her mouth slightly hung open. "Why not?" She asked icily. She squinted her eyes at him heatedly. "Why can't I get my own son!"

Sasuke bit his inner cheek from saying something insulting. "Because I don't know exactly where he is. Just where he was spotted." He managed to spit out between clenched teeth.

"So! It's starting point isn't it?" Sakura's voice rose. "We could ask people there if they saw him! Surely someone recognized him! I'm sure Orochimaru is paying that freaking village to cover for him! Everyone knows what you look like therefore they know what Hisoka looks like!"

"It's against the law." Sasuke snapped at her.

"When have you ever cared about rules!" Sakura retorted. Sakura then blinked and then took a step back away from him. "Wait, do you not want to _find_ him?"

Sasuke hesitated.

"Huh Sasuke! Why the fuck would you bring it up then?" Sakura shouted at him, her vein in her forehead pulsated clearly under her skin. "Why!"

He grunted at the pitch of her voice and tried to reason with her. "Because it's irrational. You can't look for one thirteen year old boy in this entire nation."

"Huh? Really?" Sakura crossed her arms challengingly. "But it_** IS**_ possible to search for your stupid brother?"

Sasuke sucked his teeth. "That's different."

"It's no different what so ever!" She shouted. "Just tell me where you heard he was and I'll go look by myself then!" She pulled her pink hair into high ponytail and placed her hands on her hips, almost like she was going to start a battle with him. Sasuke shifted his weight from one foot to another and avoided her look.

"No." He swallowed. He could feel that mini panic attack stir up in his stomach whenever Sakura even mentioned doing something extremely reckless without his supervision.

"What? Where is the logic behind that? If you're concerned about getting in trouble I'll just-"

"I'll accompany you." He blurted rather harshly. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He honestly could not believe that he had just said that. And it wasn't like he couldn't take it back, because he could…but just the freaking thought of Sakura running around in some unfamiliar village filled with hooligans and idiotic ninjas could drive him mad.

Sakura was quiet as she observed him; it was like she could visibly see the stress radiating from his skin. "Thank you." She whispered at him. She touched his sleeve, but he snatched it out of her grasp.

"Don't mention this to anyone." He muttered. "Seriously."

"I won't." Sakura smiled victoriously. "So where did you see him?" She started cleaning up her medical utensils with a grin. Sasuke walked over to her and snatched the stethoscope from her hand.

"Stop being so fucking cheerful. It's annoying," he grunted. "Plus people will notice your change in mood and figure something's up." She nodded obediently and jokingly replaced her smile with a grim face. He nodded in approval, "We'll leave tonight." He started to walk out again but felt a soft touch on his back.

"…" He didn't say anything but he made it known he was listening.

"Seriously Sasuke-kun, thank you. I don't know how to repay you for this."

Sasuke turned his head slightly back at her and nodded slightly. "You don't have to."

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"_**Because I don't get everything that I wanted…"**_

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"Sasuke-kun is that you?" Sakura hissed behind a bush. She was hiding in the greenery area near her favorite bench. She had been crouching there for the past half an hour or so, flinching at every sound made. But she was pretty sure that the even rhythm of cold hard boots hitting the cobblestone had to be none other than the Uchiha.

"What are you doing?" He asked kneeling over to where Sakura had made herself comfortable. She looked at him incredulously.

"Waiting for you!"

Sasuke smirked, "How long have you been there?"

"It doesn't matter…" She murmured standing up. She eyed Sasuke's casual black on black outfit. He actually kind of looked really attractive, especially the way his shirt tightened when he flexed his muscles… "You look nice." She said casually, even though the back of her throat suddenly felt really dry. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her and then scoffed.

She was wearing a simple dark green t-shirt and black tights tucked into camouflage biker boots. He just cocked his eyebrow at her and chuckled. "Thanks." He stuck his hand out so that she could pull herself out of the bush. "Let's go."

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"_**Lying next to you wishing I could disappear..."**_

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"So…can I ask where we're going?" Sakura said after a while of treading through the forest.

"No." Sasuke replied casually. He kept his eyes right in front of him on the dirt path road, refusing to be distracted.

"Is there a reason?" Sakura asked casually. She hummed lightly to herself as she walked besides him in the breezy night. It almost felt like she was seventeen again, secretly walking about the village at night with the cutest boy that anyone had ever seen. "Or do you just what to keep it a secret just to keep up the whole dark vibe you got going on?" She smiled slightly at the end of her sentence and glanced up at Sasuke he was blandly staring back at her.

"You're fucking annoying." He replied. "And no, there is no specific reason."

"So you just want to keep it a secret?"

"That's the point."

"Just like how you kept a secret about that girl you slept with."

An awkward silence fell upon the two. Sasuke scratched his chin tiredly and ignored Sakura's frigid stare. "It wasn't that big of a deal Sakura."

"Right." Sakura murmured. "No big deal." She crossed her arms behind her back and stared up at the sky as she walked. She could feel tears in the corner of her eyes but bit her lower lip to keep them back. She'd be damned if Sasuke made her cry and she had only been in his company for three hours or so.

Sasuke quickly glanced at her with his peripheral vision and could clearly tell she was upset. She wore her emotions on her sleeve, no matter how hard she tried to keep a poker face. "Are you tired?"

"Nope." She yawned despite herself.

"Stop lying." Sasuke commented. He stopped walking and nodded his head towards a small dirt pathway in the forest. "I know a place where we can rest."

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"_**Trying to be perfect, trying not to let you down…"**_

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Sasuke pushed open the door to a cute little two story house that was oddly located in the middle of the forest. He held the door open for Sakura as she walked through.

"How do you know about this place?" She asked in a half whisper. It was cute from the outside, but it was tackily decorated with floral décor on almost every item that was visible to the naked eye. "It's so unlike you."

Sasuke scoffed. "It's not my house, so it shouldn't be like me in anyway." He closed the door and a loud golden chime sounded from a tiny rusty bell on top of the door. "I stay here sometimes when I'm on missions." He adjusted his shirt orderly and tucked in his shirt. Sakura stared at him curiously.

"What are you doin-"

"Just get prepared." He ordered, still fixing up.

"Whose there!" A booming voice was heard from another room that Sakura couldn't see. She looked up at Sasuke questionably, but he just gave her a look that basically said, 'Get-prepared-to-kill-yourself'. A short blonde plump woman came hopping out of the other room with a tray full of chocolate chip cookies. "Oh! Sasuke-kun! You're back!" She cheered, her cheeks turning as red as a ripe tomato. Sasuke half smirked and somewhat twitched.

"Yeah."

"You know you're room is always there! And you decided to dress up nicely, so I don't have to spruce you up! YAY!" She cheered bobbing her head from side to side. "You look like such a gentleman today! Here take a cookie!"

She shoved the plate in his face and the strong scent of chocolate filled his nostrils and Sasuke refrained himself from vomiting. He learned his lesson last time he was here. "No thanks, but maybe she would like some." He suggested placing his hand on Sakura's shoulder. And for the first time that night, the overly friendly woman noticed Sakura in the room.

"Holy!" Her blue eyes got really wide and her mouth formed a perfect 'o' shape. "WELCOME!" She handed the tray of cookies to Sasuke and gave Sakura the biggest hug she could muster. "What is your name!" She shouted frantically. She grabbed Sakura's face into her palm and squished her cheeks.

"Sakura." She managed to spew out as the woman pulled and tugged at her cheeks.

"LOVELY! I shall sing the welcome song!" She said with such joyfulness her face literally was the shade of Sakura's hair. Sakura glanced at Sasuke worriedly but he just grabbed a cookie and shoved it in her mouth like he was enjoying her suffering.

"No-it's okay…really." Suffered to get out with a mouth full of cookies.

"NONESENSE!" She let go of Sakura and ran into the other room. She pulled out a harmonica and hummed a horrifyingly off key tune. "WELCOME TO THE HOMELY SHACK, WHERE THE WALLS ARE WHITE AND THE CARPET IS BLACK! MY NAME'S DOREEN PLEASE DON'T CAUSE A SCENE, AND THE NIGHTLY COST OF STAYING HERE IS ONLY 10.19!" She ended her short song with a perfect cartwheel and a bedazzling smile.

"Oh my gosh…" Sakura whispered.

"I know." Sasuke commented, taking another bite of his cookie. He offered Sakura one and she gladly took it.

Doreen smiled gleefully and wiped her hands. "I hope you two enjoy your stay here! Any friend of Sasuke's is a friend of mine. Especially the female ones!" She then looked at Sasuke and winked. "She's much more proper than the usual ladies of the night you bring in!" She giggled at Sasuke's glare, and grabbed his room keys from the hook. "Unfortunately I only have one room available right now since I'm under renovations. But I'm sure your lady friend wouldn't mind."

"Actually-" Sakura started but Sasuke gave her a look that made her close her mouth instantly.

"That would be fine, thank you." He thanked her and walked up the stairs that had pink roses wrapped around the railing. He walked past three rooms and he stopped in front of the last room on the right of the hall. He turned the key in the knob and opened the door. And Sakura nearly gasped at the elegancy of it. It had a king sized bed in the middle room that was layered with black silk material. The floor was covered in the most graceful white carpet she had ever seen and walls had lovely black and white photographs of special landmarks in the world.

"Wow. All this for 10.19?" She asked him in complete disbelief.

Sasuke nodded, "She's fucking insane honestly." He tossed his bag on the floor and Sakura gently placed hers next to his. She then jumped onto the bed and stretched longingly against the bed.

"I haven't been on bed this soft in a while!" Sasuke sat on the bed and started to remove his boots.

"We had a bed like…this…at one point…" Sasuke's voice faded off as he awkwardly cleared his throat. Sakura stopped fussing on the bed and lay there quietly.

"Yeah we did." Her light voice soothed his ears, and suddenly he felt his mark pounding erratically on his neck. It was like his brain just registered that he was alone in a room with his ex girlfriend. He attempted to swallow the amplitude of saliva that had just appeared in his mouth, but nearly dry heaved.

"Get ready for bed." He ordered, he stood up and took off his shirt. Sakura stared at his bare back and watched as each individual muscle in his back contracted and relaxed. He was so fucking hot. It was unbelievable to even think that at one point _she _was with him. She climbed off the bed and pulled out her oversized shirt and white cotton shorts. She quickly scrambled into the bathroom, but not without stealing a glance at Sasuke's rock hard abs.

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"_**No one else can speak the words on your lips…"**_

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Sasuke set up his self made bed on the floor when Sakura walked out of the bathroom in her night wear. Her hair was wet from the shower she had just taken and she yawned tiredly.

"What are you doing?" She stepped over his fake bed and climbed on to the real bed.

"What does it look like?" he retorted annoyed. "Making a bed."

"What for?"

"To fucking sleep on."

Sakura puffed out her cheek, almost like she was insulted. "Why would you sleep on the floor?"

"Are you not on the bed?" Sasuke snapped back at her. What was with the fifty something questions. Could she not just be quiet for a fucking minute? Her voice was literally burning his mark.

"But this bed is big enough for the both of us to sleep on." Sakura offered innocently. She really didn't think it would be that big of a deal. They've slept next to each other since they were seventeen without having any sexual interactions. And that's when their hormones were on the rise. "Seriously Sasuke, I'll feel bad."

"That's not a good idea."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be sleeping on the floor after a long day." Sakura further explained. "Look," she started. She pulled the covers of the bed and then lifted an extra layer of sheets and tucked herself under it. "I can sleep under the sheets, and then you can sleep on top of it."

Sasuke sighed and stared at her. He scratched the back of his neck and stared at his pitiful bed, and back to Sakura. He sighed, "Just don't touch me." He warned as he got on top of the sheets. He made sure there was at least two feet separating the two of them and then placed the cover over him. He clapped his hand to signal the light to turn off. Instantly it did its job and the room was pitch black, except from the eerie light from the moon.

He heard Sakura shuffle about on the bed restlessly. "Sasuke."

"What?"

"Are you sleeping?"

"…No."

He heard her turn over to her side and could literally feel her green eyes staring him down in the dark. But Sasuke kept his façade and kept his gaze on the ceiling. "This is kind of weird…"

"Us?"

"No. Well yeah. But also the fact that you knew that this bed and breakfast place existed."

" I already told you. I come here on missions. It's cheap and comfortable." He explained in a half whisper. "Even though Doreen is a fucking psycho."

"Huh," Sakura pondered. "We're kind of weird too you know?"

"…"

Sakura sighed and continued. "It's almost like we're always involved in each other's lives, no matter how bad we are for each other."

"You're incorrect." Sasuke turned to face her. His onyx eyes searched hers. "You always manage to get tangled into my life." Sakura scoffed and rolled her faultless jade eyes.

"No I do not!"

"Yes you do." Sasuke smirked. "You want to find Hisoka, I'll take you to find Hisoka. You want me to take Hisoka to school, I take Hisoka to school. If you wanted to go on a picnic, fuck I'd take you. If you want thousand dollar shoes, I'd buy you fucking thousand dollar shoes. Even though I don't _want_ to do any of those things for you."

"Sasuke…"

"But I did. And I still do. It's the mere definition of insanity." Sasuke held her gaze for a moment longer and then returned his attention back to the ceiling. Sakura took deep breaths as she stared at him in shock for not only had he spoken, but he had used his emotions. Something she hasn't heard in years. She pulled the sheets off of her and crawled over towards Sasuke, closing the gap between them.

He slowly turned his face to stare at her, "What are you doing?" Sakura placed her pointer finger on his bottom lip and lightly brushed it. She stared at his lips, her heart started flutter. "Sakura…" Sasuke's lips moved against her gentle finger, but Sakura applied force.

"Just for tonight…" She started nervously. Her voice was shaky and her palm was sweating, but the erotic pounding of her heart wouldn't seize. Not until her womanly urges were met, and there was only one man that could do so. "…can I not be Sakura. Just for tonight, can't we just be two strangers?"

Her fingers lingered for a little bit longer on his lips, and she lightly traced it down his jaw and down to his bare chest. Her small hand shivered against his cold skin as her eyes lingered on his mark that was glowing an eerie shade of purple.

He instantly knew that what he wanted to do was a bad idea. Not only could he kill her… it would give him a reason to be attached to her. All he had to do was deny her, like many previous times before, and she would slump back to her side of the bed and sleep.

But he couldn't.

He needed her.

He wanted her.

And that's the only reason he needed. He quickly pranced on top of her and kissed her rashly. She moaned under his kiss and the sound sent his mark seething. He could sense it scathing his body, sending a pain comparable to about a thousand sharp needles piercing into his skin. Yet, he couldn't feel it, or he just didn't care. The comparable feeling of Sakura's soft luscious body under his firm one, the way her body would curve upwards when he kissed her neck, it was nothing compared to the pain from the mark. It overrode it. He felt something gentle on his mark and realized that she was grasping his neck out of pleasure, whether consciously or not, it scorched. The pain was so strong that he felt his heart clench in his chest. Sasuke crumpled over her. He released his hold on her and let her fall back onto the soft pillow with a light 'plump'. She gasped out in shock her eyes frantically searching his.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun…?" She whimpered erotically. He buckled over her and placed his head into the crook of her neck, clutching his mark. "…Sasuke-kun please….fight it."

"Fuck." Sasuke ignored her and continued to shake uncontrollably against her, using all of his will power to stop from transforming into that horrid beast. The marks had already escaped and covered almost all of his body, prancing on his skin like they were just awaiting his metamorphosis. He felt Sakura's tender hands lift his face so that he was staring at her. She used one hand to run it through his now damp hair and she gently kissed him on his quivering lips.

"I want you." She said sweetly. "Not the demon version of you, but Sasuke Uchiha."

Immediately when her gentle words entered his ears, he lost control. Not to the evil demeanor that was inside of him, but to his self control in restraining his hormones. As swift as Sakura could blink, she felt herself being thrown against a wall. Her lips were mulled by his tender ones. Her mouth was invaded by his tongue. She moaned at the intensity and wrapped her slim leg around his hard thigh. His hand grasped at her soft shorts and gently brushed against her clit. Sakura's hips bucked in anticipation and Sasuke looked up at her smirking sarcastically.

She bit her lip under his stare and blushed shyly. Sasuke's smirk grew as he lightly kissed her on his neck. "You're not scared are you?" His breath was hot on her neck. Sakura grasped his hair and panted deeply. Just his voice was enough to send her over the end then imagine –

"Kinda." She admitted. Sasuke started to remove his hand; he didn't want to scare her. He didn't want to seem like some big bad monster attacking a little cherry blossom, but Sakura grabbed his hand so it wouldn't move. "But I'm okay."

"Sakura…" He said with a warning tone.

"Sasuke-kun, I promise." She swiftly pulled off her shirt and her bare skin was exposed. Sasuke's eyes wandered away from her face and to her full succulent chest. He felt his stomach painfully churning with desire and quickly stepped out of his boxers. She slightly gasped when she felt his hard member on her inner thigh. Her body quivered with desire.

Her body was basically begging for it, screaming for _him_. Damn, he was so obsessed with her. It was pathetic really. He kissed her neck again, pressing their bodies together as close as possible with just her thin cotton shorts separating them. He quickly shot his finger into her panties which earned a loud scream of pleasure. Sasuke grinned against her breast as her panting became heavier with each individual thrust. All he wanted to do was fill her up and fuck her ha-

" LORD WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE, ARE YOU GUYS OKAY!"

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"_**If you see Kay can you tell her that I love her?"**_

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**XD**

**I updated faster this time! Right thumbs up! Love all you guys and I hope you have a wonderful day!**

**Reviews make my world go round**

**xooreoxo**


	32. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

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"_Together we cry…"_

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Sasuke, using his amazing reflexes, grabbed the bed sheets and tossed it around Sakura. She quickly grasped on to them rapping it around her body.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed at the Doreen, sweat glistening against his bare chest. Doreen looked between the two of them and smiled shyly.

"I am so sorry!" She bowed respectfully, but still had that irritating smile on her face. "But, you forgot this!" She waved a condom in the air and flung it on the mattress. "But I see you're ahead of the game!" She laughed awkwardly and lingered in the door way.

Sakura stared at her waiting anxiously for her to leave, and at the same time cussing the girl insanely in her head. How dare this forty year old insane bitch ruin her moment? She's been waiting for this day for years, and now it was fucking destroyed.

Sasuke grunted at her, his frustration clear in his voice. "Then_ why_ are you still standing here?" He hissed.

Doreen smiled, "Just don't leave her unconscious."

"What?"

"Well…" She shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other. "It's just that last time you left that chick here after you know…did your stuff. I found her unresponsive."

"…" Sasuke remained silent as he felt Sakura stiffen next to him.

"It's just really awkward explaining the situation to the police." Doreen awkwardly smiled, "Imagine explaining that one of the guests slept with a girl with such intensity that she passed out! So just be careful." She laughed half-heartedly and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Sasuke attempted to clear his throat, and at the same time attempted to clear the tension that had suddenly built up in the room. Sakura tightened the sheets around her and stared at him accusingly in the dark.

"I thought you said it was nothing."

"It was- it is nothing." Sasuke muttered against her neck. He blew soft kisses against her skin, but she shied away from him.

"No, Sasuke stop." She shoved him away from her and ran her hand tiredly through her hair. Sasuke dropped his head and pounded his fist against the wall beside her head.

"You cannot be serious." The frustration was clear in his voice, and Sakura understood why. He finally was able to overcome his cursed mark, finally…and Sakura didn't want to proceed. It was just that, to her, the simple idea that he had sex with enough passion to make some girl _pass out_ was just so absurd. And now he wanted to do the same thing with her?

"I just can't- I can't." She repeated. She ducked under his arm and climbed on the bed. Sasuke stood there in complete dissatisfaction.

"So you're going to sleep?" He rather stated than asked. He was pissed. He wouldn't lie. She had hurt his ego, but not only that, she killed a great moment. Even if she popped up from the bed right now and dropped the sheets and approached him with all her nude glory, there was no way in fucking hell he would be aroused. She had officially killed a moment. And to make it all worse, now he had a painful erection to deal with. He scoffed at her as he crawled over to his side of the bed and quite heatedly, placed his head on the pillow.

"I'm sorry, I know I brought it up but I just can't knowing-"

"Forget it Sakura." He interrupted, refusing to look at her. "We're here for Hisoka and nothing else. Go to sleep."

"Sasuke-"

"Sleep."

Sakura uncomfortably shifted to stare at the back of his head, his raven spikes dangerously sticking out. She did want to be with him. But not like this. Not with the idea that they weren't exclusive and Sasuke could just get up and fuck any other girl, and create the same passion for that girl that he would create for her. She couldn't do it. So she turned her head away from him, and slept.

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"_**I need a taste, a kiss from someone new…"**_

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Sasuke placed his hands in front of Sakura to stop her from taking another step.

"What?" She asked him. She took a look around her surroundings and they were in some shady, ghastly looking village. There were a small amount of villagers that sauntered their way about the town with their eyes casted towards the ground, refusing to look in anyone's eyes. "Where are we?" Sakura asked him.

Sasuke looked down at her and propped his hood up. He urged Sakura to do the same. "This is spot where Hisoka was last seen." He tucked in a lock of her outlandish pink hair into her hood. "With that kind of hair, we'll be spotted easily."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "I seriously doubt I'm the only person with pink hair."

Sasuke smirked, "You're the only one I've seen." He nodded his head and stuck his hands in his pockets, "Come on lets go." Sakura smiled softly to herself as she kept in pace with Sasuke. They really hadn't spoken since the incident at the hotel room. Most of their social exchanges were either mutters or awkward conversations just to break the silence.

Sakura kept her gaze low just as the other villagers were doing and quickly shuffled behind Sasuke's broad body. She felt her face flush as she imagined his rock hard abs hovering over hers touching her in ways that she had never-

"Why are you smiling?" Sasuke interrupted her thoughts. He had turned his head slightly so that he was looking at her with the corner of his eye. Sakura's smile was quickly replaced with a deadpanned expression.

"No reason."

Sasuke stared at her momentarily, but then quickly returned his attention back to the road. "Well stop it, smiling will only make you stand out."

Sakura scoffed, "Smiling, my hair, looking people in the eye, you'd think that the people that live here like being depressed." She looked up from the ground and scanned the morbid crowd. Everyone had on brown cloaks and were quickly scurrying around the town. The skin that was visible beneath the auburn cloaks were coated with days worth of dirt. "Why would Hisoka be in a place like this?" She muttered wearily under her breath.

"You'd be surprised." Sasuke led her into a nearby bar and sat down in a booth. "If you don't want to be found, then you'd always hide in the most obvious, yet the last place anyone would check." He commented as he picked up a menu and started scanning the items. And it was true. Reportedly, Hisoka was last seen around this village, a creepy, nearly deserted village.

But there was one benefit of these small towns, everyone knew everyone…no matter how quiet the town appeared to be.

Sakura picked up her menu to shield her face, similar to what Sasuke was doing except, when he did it, he had a much more mysterious vibe radiating from him than she did. "So what are we doing here?" She whispered at him.

"Waiting for the server."

Sakura dropped her menu on the table and gaped at him. "So you're ordering food? I thought we were still looking for Hisoka!" She attempted to whisper, but her anger was clear in her voice. Sasuke ignored her though and lifted his hand in the air signaling a waiter to appear at the table.

"What do you want eat?" asked a teenage boy with a very melancholic tone . He kept his eyes on the ground as he spoke and he had a nervous spasm every ten seconds or so. Sakura sighed and ordered a simple bowl of rice, still quite irritated that they were ordering food instead of searching for her son, but then Sasuke did something unusual. He removed his hood and let his signature hair stand out. Sakura quickly kicked him under the table and gave him a knowing eye, but Sasuke ignored her. The angular young boy looked up from his notepad and his eyes slightly widened. "You look awfully familiar."

Sakura snapped her head at the waiter and fought a bright smile from appearing on her face. Sasuke's plan suddenly hit her. It was a miniature town and if Sasuke was supposed to be Hisoka's clone, then someone will recognize him.

"Really?" Sasuke kept his voice unusually calm. "How so?"

The kid narrowed his eyes at him and tapped his pen against his cheek. "There's this kid I see sometimes, he has the same hair and kind of the same face too." The kid tilted his head and stared at him oddly again, "That's so bizarre."

Sasuke nodded in agreement and ordered a simple bowl of rice as well. "Does he live around here?" He asked in such a laid-back voice that Sakura was almost deceived.

The boy kept his eyes at his notepad as he wrote, "Yeah. I mean I don't know where exactly, but he does come here to eat."

"For real!" Sakura shrieked giddily. Sasuke pinched her arm to keep quiet and she quickly slumped back in her seat. The boy eyed her bizarrely.

"Uh-huh, like once a day for dinner. He doesn't say much, when he is here." He paused. "I don't feel real comfortable talking about him like this though. It's kind of weird."

Sakura laughed lightly, "Of course." She placed her head on Sasuke's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his bulkier one. "I was just fascinated that there could possibly be two people with such an adorable face!" She reached up to pinch Sasuke's face, which earned her a fatal glare.

"…Okay." The boy said cautiously. He slightly nodded and turned away from the couple. "What a weird pair." He muttered under his breath more to himself than for them to hear.

Once he was out of sight, Sasuke removed himself from Sakura's hold. "You almost fucking blew it." He hushed at her as he lowered his head to whisper into her ear.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to stalking people…unlike some of us." She teased softly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, but chose to ignore the comment. He glanced at his wristwatch and frowned.

"It is a quarter till five. He said Hisoka usually comes here around dinner time."

"So, are we going stay here and wait till we see him?" She asked anxiously.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed together. Sakura knew from years of being with him that this meant he was devising a plan. "No." He said suddenly. "We'll keep watch from the rooftop of a building across from here."

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Sakura lay on her stomach on a dusty rooftop. Next to her, Sasuke Uchiha lay on his back staring at the sunless sky. "You don't have to stare at the restaurant. You'll sense his chakra pattern before you'll even see him anyways." He said monotonously.

"I know." He heard her sigh tiredly and felt something tug at the insides of his stomach. He turned his head slightly to the side and eyed her slim yet lovely toned legs. She wasn't too slim but wasn't curvy either. She was voluptuous, and even though this wasn't the time nor place to think about this, he felt his groin tighten. He returned his attention back towards the sky and swallowed hard. He needed to gain control of himself, but just a simple thought kept recurring in his mind. Last night he had nearly slept with her, without any major impediments. He had his cursed mark somewhat under control, and for once he could feel what it would be like to inside of the Sakura Haruno. If only she would give him the chance.

"Oh." Sakura called out. Sasuke sat up and looked over the ledge very quickly. He scanned the dirty crowd below and didn't see any sign of raven spikes anywhere.

"What?"

Sakura looked up at him and instantly blushed. "Sorry, nothing. Did I say something out loud?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…well nevermind." Sakura's face flushed even redder, if that were possible and she returned her gaze back to the crowd.

"Tell me."

"No, it's okay-"

"Sakura." Sasuke said with his usual warning voice. It always had a way of leaking whatever information she was hiding from him.

Sakura looked at him, but then drew out a hot breath. She pointed to a blonde haired male in the crowd. "You see that guy?"

"Yeah?" Sasuke spied him cautiously. The young man she mentioning was just a few shops down from the restaurant holding a vase of flowers for an elderly woman as she walked across the street.

"He's hot." She muttered under her breath. She eyed him from the corner of her eye and watched as Sasuke's muscles visibly hardened.

"Interesting." He said sarcastically and lay back on the roof. Now Sakura slowly shuffled her body into a sitting position and peered over him.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Sasuke kept his eyes closed.

"Nothing." He said coolly. Sakura watched his chest rise and fall without even thinking her fingers grazed his toned body. Even underneath all the layering he had on, she could feel his hard defined chest.

"Hmm" She huskily whispered. "But he's not as beautiful as you are, if that's what you're concerned about." Sasuke then opened his eyes and stared at her jade ones. Her lashes were lowered at him, and it drove him fucking crazy. Right now wasn't the time for their flirtatious banter, but then again, when was it ever the time? It was just the natural chemistry between them. Sasuke honestly believed he could be taking a fucking shit, and Sakura could walk into the bathroom and he'll suddenly want to make love to her. His need for her was just that intense.

"Sakura, _you _told me to stop last night." He brought up. He didn't need her fickle behavior right now. The reason they were alone together was because of her 'son'.

"I know…but sometimes my thoughts seem confusing to myself. I've never been with someone before and-"

"Wait, excluding that incident a few years ago..." Sasuke felt his heart speed up from just mentioning it, "…You've never slept with anyone else?"

Sakura nodded shyly, she removed her hand from his body and awkwardly placed it on her lap. "I was just waiting for you….I just assumed you were waiting for me too." Her voice died out at the end of her sentence and sadly smiled at him. "It's stupid really. We're two grown individuals and it's just a childish thought that I've always had."

Sasuke watched her as she attempted to articulate her thoughts to him, and he suddenly felt like the shittiest man in the entire world. He sat up and leaned on his elbows and opened his mouth to utter something comforting when he felt a bitter shiver crawl up his spine. He quickly turned his head and ran to the ledge of the roof.

"Look." Sasuke indicated with a nod of his head over the roof. He placed his dark hood over his hair to mask it with the evening sky. Sakura quickly scampered over the ledge on all fours, and looked over.

"Hisoka…"

Sasuke nodded in response. "Put your hood up." He ordered. "And mask you chakra." His Sharigan eyes flittered as he watched Hisoka come down the alley. He looked exactly…well like him. Or at least how he looked in his early teens. Same hair, same posture, even their chakra was extremely similar. It was probably why he was able to sense him before Sakura could. "Okay," Sasuke started. "Follow my lead."

"What are you going to do? Attack him?" Sakura asked startled.

Sasuke quickly glanced at her and then returned his attention back on Hisoka who was nearly directly across from their building. "No fucking shit. I'm not just going to walk up to him."

"Sasuke! You can't do that!" Sakura snarled at him, squinting her eyes at his direction. "He's my son!"

But Sasuke didn't even hear the last part of her sentence, because as soon as Hisoka was directly perpendicular to their building, he plummeted himself towards him in one quick action. He quickly leaped off the building, tackled himself into Hisoka and pulled him by the color to a nearby desolate area in just a matter of seconds.

"What the-?" Hisoka started, but Sasuke quickly placed his palm firmly against his mouth, and used his other hand to restrain the squirming Hisoka from moving around too much. He then signaled to Sakura, who was still stunned by how quick everything had gone down, to follow him.

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Sasuke dragged the frantic Hisoka to a forestry area, and as soon as he knew he was out of anyone's sight but his own and Sakura's, he shoved Hisoka to the ground.

"You're a real pain, Hisoka." Sasuke started. Hisoka glared at him and spat on the floor. He glanced at Sakura who was in near tears, and returned his gaze back to his 'clone'.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Sakura briskly walked in front of Sasuke, and held her arms wide opened, "We want you to come back home with us."

Hisoka scoffed harshly, "Home? That place was never my home." He stood up from the ground and brushed himself off. "I will never return to that _place_."

Sasuke observed Sakura as she looked slightly taken aback. She slowly placed her arms back by her side, and forced a smile. "What are you talking about silly? Your family's in Konoha."

"Family?" Hisoka spat. His eyes narrowed as he looked from Sasuke and back to Sakura. "You two lied to me, for_ years_. " He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, but when he did so, his sleeve slid down just a tad and it revealed a black mark.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he recognized it and quickly grabbed Hisoka's arm and pinned him against a tree. "You fucking idiot!" He cursed at him angrily. His eyes still glued to the mark. Hisoka, slightly startled, struggled under his hold.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sasuke-kun! Don't hurt him!"

Sasuke ignored her though, and used his hand to force Hisoka's head to the side, so he could get a clear view of his mark. "After everything that you've witnessed growing up, you still let that snake bite you?" He spat venomously at him. Hisoka knew very well the consequences of the mark Sasuke brew. And that stupid bastard still went to go get one.

"That's not of your business," Hisoka retorted. He pulled himself free and stumbled to the ground. He cautiously caressed the part of his arm that Sasuke had so harshly snatched.

"Like hell it is." Sasuke snapped back. "I've suffered with this fucking thing for years, and if there's one thing that you could've learned living with us, was that this mark is called cursed for a damn reason."

"Stop it." Hisoka replied abruptly.

Sasuke stared at him carefully, "Stop what?"

Hisoka stared back at him and opened his mouth, but then closed it again. It was weird for him to be staring at the person he would look identical to a few years down the line. It was weird to stare into the same dark pupils and to see him. And it was so fucking weird to hear his voice coming out of someone else's mouth. "Stop talking to me like you're my father." He waited for Sasuke's reaction, but he had none. He just stood there for or moment and so and ran his hands through his short dark hair tiredly.

Sakura watched the two of them, her heart breaking with each word uttered from Hisoka's mouth. It was so hard to see her son two feet in front of her, and hear him bluntly disregard them like she and Sasuke were strangers. Like they hadn't raise this kid from infancy.

"Hisoka…" She half whispered, half cried. She had tears spilling out of her eyes and onto the floor. Her bottom lip quivered like a small child, and she couldn't stop her palms from shaking. "…please."

Hisoka watched her as she broke down in front of him, and something in his stomach dropped dramatically. He averted his gaze to the ground. "I have nothing to say to you Sakura." He mumbled. But his heart was saying otherwise. He started to feel his cursed mark start to sting and shoved the pain to the back of his consciousness.

Sakura shook her head helplessly and crumpled to the ground. She angrily pulled the grass out of the ground by its roots, attempting to gain a hold of her reality. "Hisoka…you're my son."

"Sakura-" Sasuke started, bending down to help her out. It literally took the life out of him to see her like this. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder attempting to reassure her…but it was pointless. To her, Hisoka was her son. And how do you tell a mother that their son didn't want to be a part of her life anymore?

Hisoka watched the two from the corner of his eye, and bit his lip anxiously. "No matter how much you cry Sakura, I'm never going to come back. I can't. My entire life there was one massive lie."

"We were trying to protect you," Sakura pleaded looking up at him.

"By lying to me?" He shouted back. "By pretending to be people you're not? By telling me stories that weren't true?" He shook his head angrily. "You brought this upon yourself." He then started to back away from the scene slowly.

"Do not walk away." Sasuke ordered at him from Sakura's side.

Hisoka kept walking though, "You don't own me, Sasuke."

"Hisoka….don't…." Sakura sniffled, almost in near hysteria.

He didn't respond to her plea, and started performing hand signs in order to start a disappearing jutsu when Sasuke blurted something absurd.

"If you leave, I will find you on my own and kill you."

Hisoka froze on his last hand sign, and stared him down. The atmosphere between the three of them had shifted dangerously, and Hisoka curiously tipped his head to the side. "You wouldn't."

Sasuke stood up and unleashed his kunai. "Try me."

Hisoka looked back at Sakura to see that she was just in as much shock as Hisoka, or even more. "You can't…"

"I don't see why not?" Sasuke started, "With that mark, you will eventually become an annoying burden as you become older. If you refuse to come back to Konoha peacefully, I will erase you from this earth now. It will save me the time from doing it later on."

Hisoka stared at him, slightly baffled. He had to be bluffing. There was no way Sasuke would kill him, no way. If anything, Sakura would be so fucking depressed by that action that he wouldn't be able to live with himself afterwards. Hisoka stood up straighter, feeling as if he called out Sasuke's bluff. "I dare you to then." He dropped his weapons leaving him defenseless. "Kill me."

Sasuke shrugged and swiftly position himself in an attacking stance.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped in complete shock. "If you kill him, you kill me!" She shouted at him angrily, grasping at his pants. Sasuke shook her off though, and acted as if he didn't hear her. "SASUKE-KUN!" She yelled louder, her voice screeching towards the end, but by the time she got his full name out of her mouth, Sasuke had already swiftly began charging at Hisoka.

Hisoka held his ground though, determined that there was no way that Sasuke would kill him. But as Sasuke got closer, he started to panic. And Sakura could see it.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

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_**CLASH**_

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Sasuke's eyes enlarged as he saw who had stopped his attack.

"Now there's no need for such rashness is there Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke instantly pulled back and stood in a defensive stance. Even if when wasn't starting this creature dead on, just the sheer sound of his eerie voice gives him away every time.

"Orochimaru."

Orochimaru straightened up and licked the bottom of his lip seductively. "My, my. I can see your still as hot-tempered as always, huh Sasuke-kun?" He sauntered over to the quivering Hisoka, who was actually quite shocked that Sasuke was really going to kill him. "Aw, Sasuke-kun you scared the poor boy." Orochimaru's yellow eyes fell to Sakura's jade ones and Sasuke quickly stood in front of her, blocking her from his view.

"What are you doing here?" He barked at him.

"You're attacking one of my greatest students, and you think I wouldn't be there to defend him?" Orochimaru rubbed Hisoka's head. "You must've known I wouldn't let you kill him."

Sasuke snarled in response, which caused Orochimaru to chuckle lightly.

"Of course, he isn't as nearly talented as you were, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru felt Hisoka's body tense under him, but continued. "He's missing one thing."

Sasuke didn't bother to humor him with a response, and gently pulled Sakura's shaken body up from the ground. "I don't fucking care. You won't be able to protect him all the time, and when you aren't there I will kill him." Sakura stared at Sasuke in disbelief as he said those words. What the fuck was this man thinking? That he could just murder her son, and he would get away with it? Hell, if Sasuke killed Hisoka, Sakura would attack him with ten times more with vengeance. It was her fucking son after all!

Orochimaru smiled in response, "Well I have a preposition for you, and the little cherry blossom will get her son back."

"We're not interested." Sasuke snapped. Sakura shook herself out of his hold and glared at him.

"What are you saying?" She shouted at Sasuke. She slightly shoved him behind her and looked Orochimaru in the eye. She swallowed nervously, and then glanced towards her shaken fourteen year old son. "I'm listening."

"I always knew you were the brighter one, Sakura-chan." Orochimaru praised. He then got serious and grabbed Hisoka's hair so that his head had been pulled upwards and then quickly kneed him in the stomach. Hisoka screamed out in pain as Sakura nearly jumped forward to grab her son, but yet again, Sasuke held her back. Hisoka's body limply fell to the ground with a soft thud. Orochimaru continued, "There's something lacking in this clone. The Sharigan."

"…"

"Simply put," Orochimaru then looked directly at Sasuke when he spoke his next few words, "I only want Sasuke's eyes. Give them to me and I'll give Hisoka back with his memory cleared from the day before he found out he was a clone. But if you refuse, I'll kill him myself. There will be no point for this creation anymore."

Sakura paused hesitantly as she turned back to Sasuke who was staring at her, his face unreadable. His jaw tightened visibly. He knew how much Hisoka meant to her. It was the most important thing in her life, yet at the same time…his Sharigan was the thing that made him an Uchiha. It was the one trait that he was most proud of, and it reminded him of his extinct bloodline. It was _his_, meanwhile Hisoka held no significant bond to him…but he did to her. Sakura's eyes watered as she stared at him, and she slowly closed the gap in between the two of them with an emotional hug.

"There's no way I could ask you to do that." She whispered into his ear, the pain so evident in her voice, that Sasuke's lungs nearly collapsed. He bit his tongue so hard that he could taste the metallic property of his blood.

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke-kun, I can't do that to you." She replied pulling away, her eyes filled with tears that she could barely keep them open. "I wouldn't-I couldn't …"

Sasuke closed his eyes as he listened to her soft sobs. His cursed mark started to burn with such fire that he honestly thought it had dentured a hole in his skin, but it didn't faze him. What nearly crimpled him was that feeling that he always got. That feeling that wanted to protect Sakura from all sorts of pain. That feeling that caused him to do the most irrational things, just so she would be happy. That fucking feeling that, on its own, had fucked up the majority of his life.

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_"I love that girl so fucking much."_

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"Well, Sakura-chan? I don't have all day. What is your decision?" Orochimaru impatiently asked with a sadistic smile on his face. Sakura turned back to face him and wiped her eyes, but for no point, because fresh tears just replaced her old ones.

"I-I can't-I can't ask Sasuke-kun to-"

"I'll do it." Sasuke interrupted. He kept his face emotionless as he said so, and even as Orochimaru had a victorious smile on his face that he so badly wanted to claw at.

"No! Sasuke-kun what are you saying? DO you even understand what you're agreeing to?" Sakura blabbered in disbelief. "You don't have to do this for me, you really don't, Sasuke-kun, please…I'll be alright, I won't-"

"Shut the fuck up Sakura." Sasuke snapped at her. Sakura's mouth hung open still, her eyes screaming everything that she wanted to say, but Sasuke refused to look at them. "I'll give you my eyes." He reiterated. Orochimaru gleamed.

"Glad we reached an agreement." He picked up the unconscious body of Hisoka and then nodded at Sasuke. "Come on. Kabuto will be waiting to perform the operation at the layer."

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"_**Every day it will rain, rain, rain…"**_

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…**I'm not even going to try to explain why this chapter is so late…..I'm just so lazy. BUT I got it done right…lol more reviews I get, the more motivation I'll have ! (IGNORE grammar mistakes…damn I Just can't proof read...)**

**Reviews make my world go round! (and Happy Thanksgiving!)**

**xooreoxo**


	33. Chapter 31

"_If I don't say this now, I will surely break…."_

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**"_What would you have become if you weren't a ninja?" Sakura asked as she briskly walked by Sasuke. Sasuke was dressed in very casual attire as he leaned against her counter in her kitchen. It was an oddly warm November afternoon, and Sakura had decided to bake cookies. Usually, Sasuke wouldn't stick around to watch her bake since it was as boring as watching grass grow, but he did just recently try to murder her, so he felt somewhat obliged to watch her. _**

**"_That's a stupid question." Sasuke replied bitterly. Sakura briefly paused from icing her cookie and looked up at him incredulously. Sasuke cleared his throat at her odd stare, and his eyes dropped to observe her legs. Since it was such a warm day, everyone in the village had taken the liberty of wearing summer like clothing, when it actuality it was pretty close to winter. Sakura had chosen to wear a pale green summer dress that ended right above her knees. But it wasn't long enough to cover the bandages and the bruises that hadn't healed yet. Sasuke's eyes hardened and he rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously. "A policeman." _**

**"_Really?" Sakura giggled a bit to herself. "That's almost one and the same thing."_**

**"_No it's not."_**

**"_Yes it is." She argued. "That's like me saying that I would want to become a doctor if I wasn't a medic-nin already."_**

**_Sasuke scoffed at her, "Okay what would you be then?"_**

**_Sakura's smile grew tenfold, "I would totally be a singer."_**

**_Sasuke blinked, "You can't sing." _**

**"_I know." She retorted as she placed the next batch of cookies into the oven. She closed it and took off her gloves. "That's obviously why I'm not one. But if I could sing, I would become a musical artist." She walked up to him and placed her face two inches away from his own. Sasuke froze, quite surprised by her proximity. _**

**"_What?" He snarled at her. He watched her as her bright green eyes scanned his own, but just the intensity of her stare caused his Sharigan to activate involuntarily. He then pulled back heatedly once he felt his mark start to burn. "What are you doing?" He emphasized again, clearly irritated. _**

**"_I'm just checking to make sure that you're not crossed eyed, so you can become a pilot if you wish." _**

**_Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, aggravated and swiftly stepped away from her. "Why the fuck would I want to be a pilot?"_**

**_Sakura shrugged. "It'll be different."_**

**_Sasuke scoffed at her, "I'd rather have my Sharigan fucking fall out of my eyes than become a man that flies planes as a living."_**

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"_Oh oh oh, be my baby…."_

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Sasuke walked quietly behind Orochimaru in his dark moist layer. The entire building was made out of cold dark stone and the only light that emitted into the place was the soft orange glow coming from the torches that had been lined up meticulously against the wall. Sasuke felt a soft hand squeeze his palm, but he disregarded it. For he already knew that it was Sakura clinging desperately to him, almost begging him to change his mind.

"Please." He heard her plead behind him. "Sasuke-kun you don't have to do this." But Sasuke ignored her. Because he knew what he had to. There was no way he could go back to Konoha with the pink haired female after Orochimaru murdered her son. There was no way his stomach would be able to handle that, and listen to her sobs 24/7 for the next 365 days, fuck no.

"Shut up." He hissed at her and loosened the grip she had on her arm. "It's my decision." He stopped walking as soon as Orochimaru halted before a wooden door. Orochimaru looked back at the couple and smiled sadistically. He then shifted Hisoka's body that had been casually thrown over his shoulder and opened the wooden door.

"Kabuto's already waiting for you." His smile grew, and his slick pink tongue swiftly brushed along his bottom lip. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him and used his free arm to pry Sakura off his left arm.

"Let go." He ordered turning around to look intently at her. Her green eyes had overflowed with so many tears that her eyes actually looked like pale blue. _"Sakura,"_ He emphasized again, he snatched his arm back, and gently placed Sakura's arm back at her side. "Stop it."

Sakura sniffed, "S-S-Sasuke-kun…" She started. She looked up at him and tried her best to hold her tears back. But she couldn't. "…I-I don't want you to do this because of me."

"I'm not." Sasuke lied.

Sakura looked back up at him pitifully and used the back of her palm to wipe the tears from her face. "You're such a liar." She mumbled to herself, but Sasuke heard her.

Orochimaru tapped his foot impatiently. "Sasuke-kun, I do not like to wait."

"I don't like to be rushed." Sasuke retorted. He then turned back to Sakura, and shrugged half-heartedly. "I'll see you in a bit." He said reassuringly. Sakura's bottom lip quivered, but fought her hardest to hold her sobs back again. Sasuke had just lied to her again.

"_**I'll see you in a bit."**_

No he wouldn't. He wouldn't be seeing anything for a long time and it was all because of her.

To hide the sudden surge of sadness that overwhelmed her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I love you so much." She whispered into his ear. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her tiny frame and grabbed a lock of her pink hair. He held her soft pink hair into the dim light, but it didn't do it any justice. And of course it wouldn't, it was just his luck. The last time he got to see Sakura, it was in horrible lighting.

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"_But I won't hesitate no more…"_

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"It's nice to see you again, Sasuke." Sasuke sat himself into a wooden medical chair. He shifted a bit to see if he could find a comfortable position, but unfortunately he couldn't.

"Unfortunately, I do not feel the same." He replied sarcastically. He eyed the medical equipment on the stool next to his head and scrunched his nose in disgust. All there was a jar, dusty bowl, some liquid and a spoon. "Is this what you're going to use?"

"Yes." Kabuto replied calmly, rinsing his hands under an unsanitary faucet. He then walked over to Sasuke and strapped his arms and legs into chakra drainers which were then attached to the wooden chair. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

"Just give me the fucking anesthetics, so I can pass the fuck out and sleep."

Kabuto chuckled softly. "That was actually a funny one."

"What?"

Kabuto placed the spoon over a small flame and once it was heated turned to look at him. There was an odd glare on his glasses that hid his eyes from Sasuke. "Sasuke, we're not using any drugs for you."

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"_If every simple song I wrote to you could take your breath away…"_

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Sakura sat on a hard metal chair that Orochimaru had so kindly brought out for her. Her tiny palms were placed harshly against her ears to block out the terrifying screams of Sasuke in pain. Every time he shouted she felt a thousand needles stab her in the neck. She had chills run down her esophagus and goose bumps crawl up her arm. She knew very well that he was trying to hold back, most of his shouts of pain were restrained grunts or sharp intakes of breath.

"_GYAHHHHHH!"_

Sakura bit down harshly on her cheek. "Oh my gosh…." She cried out, tapping her foot anxiously. The only other time she has ever heard Sasuke actually exclaim out in pain this loudly was when they were 12. Back in the day when they were in the forest of death and Orochimaru had just bit him, but at least that time she was there to hold is hand. But feeling helpless wasn't even the worse feeling. The worst part about all this was that he was doing this because of _her._ Regardless of what he says she could bet anything that was the reason. Sakura covered her ears again as another earsplitting scream was heard.

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_**"Your annoyance is my weakness."**_

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_**"Fuck this, Sakura. Do you have an idea how much shit I've been through just looking for you?"**_

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"_**I have a preposition for you, marry me."**_

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_**"You always manage to get tangled into my life."**_

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"It's a shame, isn't?"

Sakura removed her hands from her ears and looked up at the man that has caused nearly more than half of the problems in her life. She wiped her nose with the back of hand and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, clearly agitated.

Orochimaru smirked, "What Sasuke-kun has to go through because of you." Sakura's stare wasn't as harsh as usual and slowly returned her gaze back to the cobblestone ground. But Orochimaru didn't take her silence as a sign for him to remain quiet; instead he used her silence to his advantage. "His life would have been so much easier if you weren't around, don't you think?"

"Don't you think his life would have been so much easier if _you_ weren't around?" Sakura snapped back at him.

Orochimaru chuckled, "I helped him become stronger. Or did you forget? He was on the path of meeting the only goal he had, defeating his brother. That's all he wanted to do. And he ran into you, little cherry blossom. I feel like you did more harm than I did."

"N-no, I didn't. That's not true! There's no way I've been more harmful to Sasuke-kun, then you have!" Sakura covered her ears again as another deafening scream reached her ears. This scream died off though with a soft grunt. Sakura snapped her head up and reached for the door. There was no way she could sit idly while Sasuke suffered because of her.

"Sasuke would never had his eyes taken out for anyone else. It seems like he would even die for you, if you asked him to."

Sakura's body froze before she shoved the door open, and Orochimaru could tell that he had finally broken her down.

"Just bring me my child once this is over." She whispered, and pushed open the door.

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"_With my arms out wide, I open my eyes and right now all I want to see is a sky full of lighters…"_

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Sakura ran towards Sasuke who was slumped over in a medical chair. She placed her hands on his neck, and felt a small pulse. She let out a small sigh of relief and noticed that at least Kabuto had the nobility to cover his eyes with bandages so she wouldn't have to stare at black empty sockets.

"Yeah, it was kind creepy just staring into nothingness." Kabuto called out, as if he read her mind. He was standing off to the side, using a paper towel to wipe off the blood from his jar that contained a pair of eyes. Sakura ignored him, mostly because of the fact that Kabuto caressing Sasuke's eyes was just fucking disturbing, and partly because the love of her life just got his eyes taken out for her. How many girls could say that?

She looked back at Sasuke and brushed some of his bangs away from his sweaty forehead and kissed him gently. "Bring me Hisoka." Sakura whispered.

"What?" Kabuto asked. He was too busy polishing his jar and completely blanked Sakura out.

"Bring me my son!" She shouted placing her head on Sasuke's shirt. She gripped the fabric and started crying. "J-just give me my son, and let us go home!" She shouted at him hysterically.

Orochimaru walked into the room with Hisoka draped over his shoulder, and casually strolled over to Sakura's side. "Take him." He said tossing the limp body at the couple. Sakura lifted her head in time to catch Hisoka in her arms. Orochimaru then swiftly turned to Kabuto and nodded his head hastily. And before Sakura could even process what happened, Kabuto had tossed the jar containing Sasuke's eyes at Orochimaru, and pressed a small black button that Sakura hadn't noticed when she had come in.

As soon as his finger had pressed the button, he and Orochimaru preformed similar hand signals, and then just like that, they were gone. Sakura blinked slightly confused, but then glanced down at the weight she was holding in her hands.

"FUCK!" She bellowed vociferously. Her son, which she thought had been holding, and transformed into a life size dummy with a bomb attached to the front. She tossed the doll to the side, too panicked to even be bothered by the fact that Orochimaru and Kabuto had just played her. She reached over to Sasuke and placed his unconscious body on her back. She gritted her teeth as his weight nearly crushed her tiny body but couldn't complain about it right now. She glanced at the timer on the dummy. "Thirty seconds left." She mumbled to herself. Just enough time to get out of Orochimaru's layer, but not enough time to hunt down Orochimaru for Hisoka or Sasuke's eyes.

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"_I don't want nobody else, without you there's no one left…"_

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"_**Hey, how's he doing?"**_

"_**He hasn't woken yet."**_

"_**Oh." The voice paused. "Well you should get some sleep, Sakura-chan."**_

"_**I can't."**_

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Sasuke could hear the voices distantly in the foregrounds of his mind. He could feel that his body wanted to respond to it, that he wanted to wake up. But another part of him didn't want to. When one sleeps they're free from all responsibilities that they may hold in their own lives. Sasuke's life was just way too stressful at the moment. Dealing with psychotic walking snakes and his demented sidekick, or his older brother that was seriously going to die of old age before Sasuke got the chance to wipe him off the face of the earth was just overwhelming him. As well, now he has to deal with a younger version of himself being confused as fuck about who he really is. OH. And he's blind. Fucking brilliant.

But then he heard her crying.

He heard that annoying sound she makes once she's been crying for 24 hours or more, and her throats become all raspy and dry. Her nose will probably be shot red, and at this point she wouldn't really mind that she'd had have snot all over her face. And he absolutely hated it when she behaved like that.

"Stop crying." He coughed as soon as he said it though, because his throat felt like it hadn't been used in months.

"Oh my gosh!" He heard her cried out. He felt her fragile fingers brush against his face and felt her drop her head on his chest. Her hair tickled her neck. "Sa-Sa-Sasuke! I'm so sorry." She bellowed into his chest. He could literally feel her soaking her shirt. Sasuke used his fingers to caress her back in a way to comfort her.

"Calm down. You have your son now." He said, with his throat burning with each syllable he spoke. "Can you get me something to drink?" He spoke up suddenly. But Sakura hadn't moved from his chest. She had stopped crying, but she was still had her fingers entangled in his shirt. "Sakura?"

"Hey Teme, I got you some water instead for when you woke up." Sasuke could recognize that voice from a mile away. But he was somewhat startled that he was in the room, and had just been letting Sakura bawl her eyes out for however long she'd been crying for.

"Naruto." He stated more than asked. "Who else is in here?"

"Just me, Naruto Uzumaki!" But even his usual enthusiasm had faded. Sasuke felt Naruto gently lift Sakura off of him. "Here let me help you sit up." Sasuke scoffed in annoyance, but figured he didn't have much choice. At the moment he was blind, and until he could figure out how to deal with it, he needed help getting around. Once Naruto helped him sit up, he felt a straw gently nudge the bottom of his lips and Sasuke gladly took received it, finishing the glass in two seconds.

"Whoa," Naruto chuckled softly. But even that small laughter was a bit off. "I'm going to head to the kitchen down the hall to grab you more."

Sasuke nodded in agreement and waited until he heard the door close. "I apologize." He blurted. He felt Sakura take hold of his hand.

"F-For what? What could you be possibly sorry for?"

He paused before he said anything, and gently played with her delicate hands. He never appreciated how amazing her hands were before. Back when he could see, he would be so mesmerized by the contrast with her eyes and her hair. Even her smile would distract him and capture his heart for a couple moments every day. But her skin, just the texture of her skin was just astonishing. "The screaming. That wasn't meant for you to hear." He paused. "Kabuto's a fucking asshole. He didn't bother to use any pain killer or-fuck it. I just didn't think you should hear that." He heard Sakura sniffle.

"Oh Sasuke…" he heard her start. But Sasuke squeezed her hand.

"Stop it. Don't cry." Sasuke interrupted, "How's Hisoka?" But as soon as the words left his mouth, they were replaced with her lips. Sasuke responded by kissing her back, but something didn't feel right. He hadn't been physical with her in a while, but he definitely knew how they were supposed to feel. He felt her slowly breakaway from him, but he could sense her lips mere centimeters from his.

"Sasuke-kun, I can't be with you anymore." He felt her arms tremble in his hands. Sasuke's breath got caught in his voice.

"Wait," He paused. "What?"

He heard her inhale, as if she was gaining all her courage. "Hisoka isn't with me. Orochimaru tricked us about three weeks ago, and-and I can't do this anymore. I can't be with you."

"You're fucking joking." Sasuke spat. To start things off, they weren't even officially seeing each other. But at the same time, it was like they were always together, always bonded. Regardless of the 'title' that was placed on them as a couple. Second…what in the world? Hisoka wasn't with her? There was not fucking way that Orochimaru just walked away with his damn eyes and that stupid bastard. He took his hand out of her hold and ran his hands through his hair, yanking them at their roots. "You're not serious."

"I am." He heard her soft voice. "I-I can't be with you anymore. You were right, we're not healthy."

"Shit…" Sasuke just kept repeating incoherently to himself. "Shit."

" I don't even love you anymore."

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"_**hahaha! Sasuke-kun I'll love you forever and ever!"**_

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"What?" Sasuke spat. "What the hell are you saying?"

"_I don't love you_." He heard her scoot her chair back suddenly. "I need to go now." He heard her soft footsteps fly across the room and out the door. Sasuke remained in his bed in uttermost shock. He literally just felt like his insides and been squeezed and hung to dry. He started breathing heavily and pulled the bandages away from his eyes. Maybe if he closed his eyes and opened them again this nightmare would end. Just like when he was younger and would suffer with nightmares of his family being murdered. All he had to do was close his eyes and open them again, but this time it didn't work. Because this time, even if he closed his eye lids and opened them again all he could see was darkness.

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"_Cause even after all the sacrifices I've been making…"_

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Naruto held Sakura in his arms as she wept over the action she had just committed. They were cradled together on the floor down the hall from Sasuke's room. Naruto hugged her tighter as her cries became more frantic. The minute she walked out of the room, Naruto rushed her to the side of the hallway before Sasuke could hear her sobs. She managed to hold her breath through her entire lie, and the minute she exhaled all a tears came pouring out.

"N-N-Naruto!" She sobbed in his chest. Naruto rocked her and closed his eyes, tears forming in his as well. He knew when he left the room what Sakura's plan was going to be. She had told him the second that Tsunade had announced that Sasuke was in coma from the traumatic stress from having his eyes physically removed. Sakura believed that she was detrimental to Sasuke's health. She honestly believed that all the pain that Sasuke goes through in his life was because of her. She loved him too much to see him die because of her. So the only thing she could do was to sever her existence from his life. That way, when he awoke from the coma, he could start a new life fresh, without having to feel the need to take care of her at all cost. Every girl once their Prince Charming, but if their Prince Charming falls of their shiny white horse and dies…was it really worth it?

But at the same time he knew Sasuke. He knew Sasuke loved her more then he would let on, and he always has and will. He knew that what Sakura had said in the room to him probably shattered him, and it would do more harm than good. But Sakura had her mind already set. She had been there when Kabuto had plucked his eyes out, she had heard his screams. And Naruto hadn't. So how could he judge?

"Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered into her hair. "It will be okay, I promise." But Sakura shook her head.

"It hurts too much…." She managed to say between sobs. "…I love him more than anything."

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"_All the violent, sweet, perfect words that you said…"_

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Sasuke lay on his side on his bed motionless. He had a couple visitors trickle in and out throughout the day. Even Tsunade had come in and freaked out when she saw that Sasuke had removed the bandages, so she replaced them. She attempted making small talk, but Sasuke didn't respond. In fact he didn't talk to any of his visitors that had come in to see him. Not even when Naruto had come in very tentatively, finally offering him another cup of water, he ignored him. Just by the demeanor that Naruto had when he sauntered in, Sasuke could tell that he already had knowledge of what happened in his room. And he honestly didn't feel like 'expressing his feelings' to the idiot. So he refused the drink and went back to lying on his side.

He just couldn't fucking believe it. She ended it with him. She didn't love him. She didn't care for him.

She must've only liked him cause of his eyes. She must've had just been using him just to get her son back. She must've had just been grossed out with the fact that the man of her life didn't have any eyes. She might have fallen in love with the male nurse that came into the room every now and then. The more and more thoughts that he thought of, the more angry he got. He felt a surge of emotion rise up from the pit of his stomach and as soon as it reached his cursed mark, he knew what it was.

He was angry.

He was angry at her, angry at himself, angry at fucking Orochimaru, angry at Naruto for leaving the glass of water where he could reach for it, angry that the male nurse left the window wide opened, angry that Tsunade had wrapped the bandages around his face to tightly, just fucking angry.

But he was mostly angry with his life. If there was one thing he could change in his life, it would be for him to never of fallen in love with Sakura Haruno. It wouldn't get rid of all the problems of his life, hell no. He knew his life was way too fucked up even before he met the pink haired beauty. But if he hadn't of fallen in love with her, it would eliminate a lot of his problems.

Sasuke rolled over to his back and squinted towards where he knew his ceiling would be located. He kept squinting as if he were trying to see through his bandages, and through the ceiling and towards heaven. He squinted so harshly that his hallow eye sockets started to bleed. They dropped onto his pillow like a tear drops.

He remembered as a kid his mother used to tell him that if he stared up in the sky and asked the gods for just one wish they would grant it for him. But only one wish would work, so he had to choose carefully. And he remembered thinking about this story the moment his family died. He remembered staring up at the hospital ceiling at the age of seven, and wanting to use that wish to bring back his family. But something told him not too. Something told him that he would get through that predicament, that once he defeated Itachi, he would be okay.

Whatever had reassured him back then, surely wasn't speaking up right now. Sasuke swallowed and narrowed his eyes at ceiling again. "I wish I never fell in love with her." In this life there was no reason for him to live anymore. None at all.

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"_If we wake up and you wanna break up, _

_That's cool, no I won't blame you, it was fun girl…"_

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_**(END)**_

**So I'm planning to make this a Trilogy. I know…you guys are probably like WTH? But Only if you want it to be one. Cause there's no way I'm going to have a story with like 75 chapters. So I'm breaking it up. And I'm going to have another story that will be the sequel to this. If you wanna read it, please review and it'll let me know if I have enough support for the sequel . As well Author Alert me….so u'll know when it comes out. Happy Holiday loves. **

**Reviews make my world go round,**

**xooreoxo **

**(Ignore Grammar mistakes)**

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